> OC Backstory
>  by tazdarkstripe13
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


CHAPTER I
SEEING THE CRYSTAL


Prince Nereus is prince of the sea. He controls the waves and currents, the fish and the crabs, the oceans themselves. His coat ocean blue in colour and his mane is blue-green. His necklace is a light blue with a sparkling green gem in the middle and his crown is in the design of the waves with fish wrought in the metalwork every now and then. It is sea-blue in color with white along the edges. Prince Nereus often starts the large waves when the pegasi start a storm.
Princess Aureole is the princess of the air. She controls the air currents and the force of the wind. She works directly with the pegasi and often trains a few of them to be her personal assistants, if they show great promise. He coat color is sky blue while her mane is a pale yellow. Her eyes are also sky blue but it is still easy to tell them apart from her mane. Her necklace is white in color with a bright yellow gem in the middle. Her tiara is a slightly darker blue than her coat and eyes and has small carvings of clouds here and there. 
These two alicorns have recently gotten married and decide to spend their honeymoon in the Crystal Empire after a personal invitation from Princess Amare, the princess of love and compassion who rules there.


“It's beautiful...” said Aureole as she gazed up at the towering structures and spires. Crystalline ponies mulled around, chatting and laughing. Every now and then, a group of foals would run past, playing a game or on their way to the candy store.
“Isn't it, dear?” Nereus said with a smile. He always smelled of seawater, but Aureole, the mare, had gotten used to it after a few hundred years.
“I'd love to have my mane done while we're here,” She said, snuggling up to Nereus, her new husband. They had been special someponies for about half a millenia before the stallion finally proposed. Being alcorns, that wasn't as long as it seemed. After their marriage, Princess Amare had greeted them afterwards and congratulated them, saying how happy she was for the couple. Cadence, Amare’s filly, had been there as well and had been very enthusiastic. The foal hadn’t shown much interest in the wedding itself, instead wanting to play around with the bride and groom models on the wedding cake. Amare had scolded her several tiems that day, but Nereus and Aureole had simply chuckled at the filly’s interest in the figuries.
“You shall have everything you want, Aury,” He said and kissed her forehead. “Princess Amare has promised that our stay will be our best vacation ever,”
“I have no doubt it will be,” Aureole replied. She rubbed her stomach, which was swollen from the foal that was growing inside. “I'd love to go beyond the border, though. It's supposed to be beautiful,”
“And cold,” Nereus pointed out. “And apparently there are monsters out there. Ones that are different from this side of the border.” he smiled and hugged her close. “But if you want to go, I'll hire some mercenaries to keep us safe.”
“Make sure they're paid in full, then, Nereus,” Aureole said.
“I will,” he nuzzled the mare, knowing how much she liked to see people given their due. “You know me, I give people what they deserve and no less.”
“And it's one of the many reasons I love you,” She mumbled as she rested her head on his shoulder. Nereus put a hoof on her stomach and smiled, thinking of the foal that would soon be born. They had agreed to go for a tour of the Crystal Empire before greeting the princess of love, who had offered to let them stay in the castle for the duration of their visit. They passed tall glass towers which shimmered like a calm ocean on a sunny day, they passed groups of crystaline ponies who were gossiping or playing in the bright sunny afternoon. The carriage made a few stops so they could get something to eat and so Nereus could buy Aureole a special crystal haircut. She was beautiful with her hair tied up in a bunch and inlaid with small gems and braids, that combined with her flowing, silky sky blue dress reminded the prince of the sea of the day he first say Aureole.
It had been a rather rainy day and Nereus had been doing his part and making the sea very rough and dangrous. Of course, he’d warned any boats to dock before starting. He'd always thought that he had controlled the waves himself. He'd come up for some fresh air that stormy day and had seen another alicorn flying around the storm. He'd shouted for her to get indoors, but she had just continued flying around. Nereus had watched her for a while before finally realising that she was the one controlling the wind. He had suddenly remembered the ocean which was now growing very violent. He had quickly returned to his duties just in time to stop a wave drowning a small coastal village. After the storm had passed, he found the mare lounging on a cloud. He’d approached her and asked why she had been flying around. After a long and interesting conversation, the two had become fast friends. A few hundred years later, here they were in the Crystal Empire for their honeymoon. Nereus smiled as he remembered the day and Aureole noticed it.
“Enjoying yourself?” She asked with a giggle. She may be several thousand years old, but she still acted like a little filly sometimes. It was one of the things that Nereus loved about her.
“Just remembering the day we met,” He said. “I almost drowned a town,” He chuckled.
She raised an eyebrow. “Yes, you did. Such a careless colt back then,”
“Well, I was entranced by the most beautiful mare I'd ever seen,” He replied and kissed her lightly.
Aureole giggled. “Oh, stop it, I know I'm not the most beautiful mare you've seen.”
“And how would you know?”
“Well... for one, you're very old so you're sure to have seen a lot of mares.”
“True, but none made me forget about the waves.” He nuzzled her neck. “Come on. We'll be late for Princess Amare.”
Theygot back in the carriage and set off again. They weren’t really worried about being late. There had been no set time for their arrival so they took a while exploring the city. They decided to get something more filling to eat other than a sandwich, which they’d each had earlier. Nereus spoke to the carriage driver and they turned a corner. The prince kissed Aureole on the cheek and smiled.
“You’ll have a nice meal to fill our stomach soon,” He promised. 
“You mean our foal’s stomach,” The princess replied with a giggle. “Of you want to feed me as well, you’ll have to buy extra,” She raised an eyebrow.
“I’ll buy you the whole restaurant if you want it,” Nereus replied with a smile. “Anything to make you happy,” He nuzzled her neck and Aureole sighed happily, resting her head on his shoulder. The carriage rolled along the road before stopping in front of a very fancy looking restaurant. The driver hopped down from his seat and opened the door for the couple, then opened the restaurant door for them. Nereus thanked him, then guided Aureole to a small private booth. He smiled and handed her one of the menus.
“This is all so fancy,” The princess said.
“Only the best for my special somepony,” Nereus replied with a wink. Their booth contained a round table with a crystal rose and a candle in the middle. There were salt and pepper shakers on it, too. The table itself was covered with a pale blue tablecloth and had two chairs tucked into it. Nereus pulled one of these chairs out for his wife then sat in the other. They opened their menus and read through them.
“I think I will have the large green salad with one glass of wine,” Aureole said with a smile.
“Well, I’ll just have the same,” He replied. Moments later, a maiter came into the booth and took their orders. He left a couple of glasses of water on the table, each with straws poking out. Nereus added some of the salt to his glass before taking a sip. 
“Nereus!” Aureole whispered in annoyance. “That’s rude!”
“That’s why I got us a private booth,” The prince replied with a wink. Aureole gave an exasperated sigh but was smiling. 
“You have to learn to like fresh water,” She said. Nereus chuckled. “What?” She asked.
“You’re starting to sound like a mother already,” He winked and put his hoof on hers. Aureole smiled and looked donw at her swollen belly, sighing happily. 
“This would be the greatest honeymoon every if our child was born here,” She said.
“Yes it would, darling,” Nereus replied. “Yes, it would.”

A couple of hours later, the couple's carriage stopped outside the Crystal Palace. Princess Amare was waiting for them, her mane done in the traditional fashion for formal occasions. She was a light purple alicorn with a pink mane which was streaked with red. Her eyes were pink. She bowed to the couple and they did likewise.
“Princess Amare, it is an honour and a privilege for you to grant us use of the Palace for our honeymoon.”
“It is my pleasure, Prince Nereus,” The princess of love replied. Her daughter, Cadence, was behind her, a huge smile on her face. “Playing host to a newlywed couple is a wonderful opportunity and I am glad to have you,”
Aureole noticed Cadence behind the princess. “This is your daughter?”
“She is,” Amare replied. “Cadence, come and greet the new couple.”
The young filly walked forward and bowed. As soon as she stood back up, hwoever, she started asking questions.
“Hi, my name I Cadence, my mom said we'd be having houseguests for a few nights! Is that you? You look awesome, I can't wait to play with you! We can do 'sunshine, sunshine', we can play ball, we can play dolls, we can go for walks...” She continued talking as the adults chuckled.
“Rather talkative, isn't she?” Nereus said quietly.
“She gets it from playing with everypony every day,” Amare replied. “But enough of my daughter blabbering,” She raised her voice at this part, prompting the young Cadence to fall silent. Amare resumed speaking. “Perhaps you would like a grand tour! It's been so long since we've had other royalty come to visit.”
“We would love a tour!” Aureole said happily. They started walking through the main entrance hall. Cadence would occasionally chip in with a story or two about the castle. Apparently, the cooks knew a lot about the castle and were happy to share their gossip, especially with the young princess. As they made their way up, Aureole had to stop more and more due to the foal in her belly. The others were glad to stop and it would usually prompt the start of one of Cadence's inexhaustible supply of stories. The filly seemed tohave something to say for every single stair, painting and corridor in the palace and was never shy about sharing them.
After a few hours, they reached the top where the Crystal Heart was. Aureole gazed at the jewel.
“It's... so beautiful...” She whispered.
“Yes, it is, isn't it?” Amare agreed. “It was the first crystal carved of this empire. Since our beginning, it has protected our kingdom and reinforced the border.”
“Oh, that reminds me, could it be possible for us to take a trip beyond the border?” The princes of the air asked. Amare looked at her, surprised.
“You want to... go past it?” She asked. “A-are you sure? It is extremely dangerous and very cold.”
“We'll wrap up warm and we'll take a retinue of our most trusted guards with us. And I've heard it's really pretty.”
Amare sighed at this. “I will not lie, it is a very beautiful sight, but you must understand it's too dangerous! And you are with child, it wouldn't be healthy.”
Nereus spoke up now. “We only want a quick look. We'll just go beyond the border, have a look and come back.” He smiled. “We won't linger.”
The princess of love looked at both of them, then sighed again. “Very well. I will arrange for a squad of guards to accompany you tomorrow. But please, don't linger for too long. I wouldn't want to be held responsible for something to happen to you.”
“We won't,” Aureole promised. “Now, where will we be sleeping? All those stairs have made me exhausted.” The small group laughed at that, then made their way down the stairs.

“Half an hour is the maximum you can get,” Said commander Domino. He was the leader of the 6 guards who would accompany the 2 alicorns beyond the border. Even though they'd each seen a lot of fight and had near death experiences plenty, they still looked slightly nervous. They knew the north was far from natural and many scouting patrol had gone out to have none return. Those scouting missions had stopped two hundred years ago but the guards still shivered at the thought of going out there. Even on this side of the huge gate, Nereus and Aureole shivered violently despite the countless layers of furs they had on. Aureole had been having cramps much more frequently recently and Nereus was starting to winder whether this was a good idea. He'd spoke to her about it but she was as stubborn as they came. She would fly over the barrier if she had to, despite the countless warnings about the unpredictable weather on the other side. The barrier itself was too high for any pegasus to fly and was made completely of crystal on this side although there were sayings of it being made of pony bones on the other side. Today, Prince Nereus and Princess Aureole would find out once and for all if that was the case. The six guard ponies surrounded them, Commander Domino to the front, and the giant, blue crystal gate swung open. There was a large dark tunnel leading through the barrier. They walked forward, the commander lighting the way with his horn. The walls were made of pure crystal and was like that for five whole minutes. Aureole began to wonder how thick the barrier was until she noticed that the colour of the walls was changing. It was barely noticeable but it had gone from a bright cyan blue to a dark midnight blue. The tunnel was also not nearly as smooth as it had been at the start. The walls were jagged and some small spikes looked sharp enough to make a deep enough cut. And she wasn't sure, but the princess thought she saw the slight outline of pony skulls and bones in the walls, but it could have just been a trick of the light.
After about an hour of walking, they came to another gate. This one was made of the same substance as the walls and was closed by many locks. Domino went into his coat and brought out a keyring which had a lot of very old looking keys on it. He started to unlock the gate and once that was done, he and a few others heaved it open. The prince and princess stepped out onto a ground made completely of sparkling blue ice. There eyes went wide as they looked at the scene.
In the distance, towering mountains rose, their peaks lost in the clouds. The ground was bright blue, almost white, and sparkled more than the Crystal Empire. The sky was white and it was snowing slightly, the flakes floating lazily to the icy ground. Everything looked so... pure. This land had been untouched by ponies since it existed and it was the most beautiful thing Aureole had ever seen.
“Nereus...” She whispered gazing at the glorious landscape.
“I know love,” He replied, just as captivated as her. “I've never seen anything like it.”
“It's so... natural. I didn't know anything like thi- AH!” She yelped and fell to the ground. Her husband quickly snapped out of his trance and leaned down next to his wife. The gaurds arrived and surrounded them.
“Aureole!” He cried as he crouched down. She was breathing heavily and holding her swollen stomach.
“Nereus!” She gasped. “It's coming!” She screamed. As she did, the guards shuffled nervously in their spots.
A roar and rumble made them all freeze as solid as the iced they stood on. Just a few hundered meters away, they saw something burst from the ice. It was too far away to see what it was and it dived back under. It reappeared a moment later and it was definitely closer.
“Your grace, we must leave!” Domino said as the guards made their way back to the barrier.
“Not until my foal is born!” He replied. “I am not leaving my wife here and she won't make it back in time!”
“Your grace, we must! If we stay, we die! Can you not just teleport the foal out of her?” He didn't expect him to even consider it, but he paused before replying. Domino's eyes widened. “No, your grace. It's never been done before, don't do it!”
“I'm not losing my wife,” he replied calmly as his horn glowed slightly.
“Nereus, don't,” Aureole gasped but screamed again before she could finish the sentence. The prince of the sea concentrated hard, his horn glowing brighter and brighter and beginning to spark. Suddenly, there was a huge flash of light, and Aureole's belly was now unswollen. She looked around frantically, as did Nereus.
“Where's the foal?” He asked, worry evident in his voice. “WHERE IS IT!? WHERE I-” He was cut off by a huge explosion. The beast they'd seen in the distance was now right in front of them and it was huge. It looked like a huge snake, but it was very hairy and 2 huge arms unfolded from its body. It roared and looked down at the 3 ponies. Its head was similar in shape to a dragon but was more stocky and less elegant. Its eyes were pure black and it had no horns. Its fur was a very light grey with patches of white and darker grey here and there. Its eyes were rimmed with scales, however, as were its nostrils. It bared its teeth, most of which were cracked and crooked, and roared again. It was a guttural, blood-curdling sound and it began to dive down, its mouth wide open. Domino's horn glowed and the trio vanished, causing the Frost Wyrm to dive through the ice, sending shards of the perfect crystal everywhere. The three ponies had been teleported to just outside the gate, but Domino had been caught by one of the shards of ice. It had gone through his head and pinned him to the wall of the barrier. The blood splatter was almost unnoticeable against the dark blue of the wall but it was clear on his green coat and the ground as it dripped down. Aureole covered her mouth in shock but Nereus grabbed her hoof and pulled her into the barrier. Tears were streaming down his face as he ran back through the tunnel. He didn't bother stopping when one of the spikes jutting out from the wall caused a deep gash on his hind leg. He kept runnig until he tumbled and fell face-first.
The alicorn sat up and looked at his wife, whose face was ashen and she was trembling. None of them said a word. There was nothing to say. Unless their foal had been teleported back to the Crystal Empire, it was gone. And Nereus had tried that first. The barrier must have a magical shield which prevents teleportation from one side to the other. Which meant their first foal was alone in that deadly paradise... and probably dead.
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


CHAPTER 2
A MISPLACED ALICORN


The newborn colt breathed in his first gasp of air and instantly started crying. The air he breathed was freezing and was sharp as it went down his throat. Most foals first breathed warm air but this one hadn't been born in a hospital. He was lying on the ground, which was made of ice. All around him he saw strange things. They were big and looked like big spikes, but they were also made of ice. They each had an archway in them. In one of the spikes, he saw some furs hanging on a wall and covering the ground. Most of them were white but there were some blue ones and grey ones here and there. There was nothing else in it that the colt could see, so he quickly lost interest and looked at himself. His coat was a pure black and he had what looked like tentacles sticking out of his back, but they were too hard to be. They didn't bend in the slightest. He felt his head and felt a small spike there in the small clump of hair that was on top of his head. Now that he knew his own body, he lost interest in that, too. It was at this moment that he noticed ponies were starting to come out of the spikes. He looked at them as they cautiously advanced towards him. They all had white coats which were VERY thick. One of them, a rather large stallion, snapped at the colt, who just looked at the stallion. He snapped again, speaking in a very guttural and hoarse voice as he made strange sounds in a foreign language. The colt just looked at him, then giggled. He tried to stand but tumbled and fell face-first on the hard ice. The colt began to cry. The large stallion snapped something at the rest of the ponies and several drew strange blades; they were axes, but half of it was a scythe. As they advanced towards the crying colt, a mare walked in front of them. She stood facing the four stallions who had drawn their weapons and told them something in the same language the large stallion had spoken in. They paused until one of them replied, to which the mare snapped something. The ponies glanced at each other, then withdrew. The mare turned and enveloped the colt in a green magical aura. The colt just looked at her with big eyes. They were a bright, stark blue and the pupils were similar to that of a dragon.
The unicorn carried him to one of the spikes and set him down on one of the furs. It was extremely soft and the colt snuggled in the fur. The mare said something in the foreign language, prompting a blank look. She said something else, in a different language this time. This got another blank look. She sighed and looked around. Then she walked back with a picture. It was of 2 alicorns; one was a dark blue stallion with an ocean-blue mane and eyes while the other was a pale blue mare with a yellow mane. He didn't know why, but the colt felt an overwhelming sadness when he saw this picture. He instantly began crying, the tears flowing freely. The mare smiled and put the picture away.
“I thought so,” She said with a very distinct accent. The colt just continued crying but he was too young to understand speech. “I'll make sure you stay alive. You are but a colt, yet I predict large things in your future, young one. You shall never meet those who spawned you yet you will travel the land and kill more ponies than anypony in history. Your name... is Vindictus Vulnere.”

50 YEARS LATER

Vindictus swung the pickaxe for the last time that day. He'd been working on the spire since two days ago and had gotten no sleep. He didn't mind, he didn't get a lot of sleep anyway. His spire was of average size, not as big as others but not the smallest in the village. The colt had grown slightly and the so-called tentacles on his back had begun to grow some skin between them, so he now knew they were wings. When he would be able to use them, he didn't know. He didn't really care if he could use them or not, he was fine with walking. There was nowhere for him to go, anyway. This village was his life. It was all he knew and he wasn't sure he wanted to leave it. His mother had apparently saved his life when he was first born. Well, he called her his mother but according to her, he had just appeared in the middle of the village from thin air. She had decided to take him in and raise him as her own. He knew he was different from everypony here. They all had thick, bright coats. His was thin and black. And everyone else were either ice ponies or pegasi whereas he was an alicorn. Many had wanted to cut off the small spike on his head but his mother had stopped them.
That had been centuries ago. How he was now alone and had to fight off the ponies almost every day. He'd seen other newcomers come and go but the villagers had always greeted them warmly and built them a spire. Vindictus had to carve his own. Everyone else shared their food, he had to hunt and farm on his own. Also, he had gotten a taste for meat. That combined with his never-changing age, his horn and his colour made him somewhat of an outlaw in this village. There was, however, one pony who the colt liked. His name was Uguns Amur and he was the blacksmith of the village, which had now grown into a town. He had arrived a few years ago and Vindictus had instantly taken a liking to him. The way he raised the hammer and brought it crashing down, sending sparks everywhere and making the metal sing in its high-pitched voice.
At this moment, he made his way to the sound of the hammer and watched Uguns for a while.
“You've grown,” The blacksmith said, dipping the white-hot blade he was pounding in a bucket of black liquid. It steamed and hissed for a while before he left it in and went to pour some of the molten metal into a mould.
“No, I haven't,” Vindictus replied with a chuckle. The both spoke in the hoarse, guttural language of the north. It had taken less time than everyone had expected for Vindictus to start talking.
Uguns chuckled. “Aye, maybe you haven't.” He looked at the colt. “Why do you always come here?” He asked. “You can't come here for a talk as you know I'm a busy pony. What is your reason?”
Vindictus looked up at the stallion towering above him. “I want to do what you do,” He replied. “I want to make the metal sing, I want to turn a bunch of ores into a sword, I want to create the strongest weapons ever!” He expected Uguns to laugh, to say he was crazy and go back to working on his home. Instead, the blacksmith walked forward and around Vindictus.
“You work a lot?” he asked.
“It's all I can do,”
“What kind of work?”
“Hunting, building new spires, the usual,”
“And how long have you been doing it?”
“About two hundred and fifty years...”
Uguns nodded. “Do you think you can lift the hammer?”
Vindictus walked over to the anvil where the large hammer was and put a hoof on it. He lifted the large object. It was heavier than he thought and it dropped to the ground. He was still holding it so he lifted it again, his muscles straining from the exertion. He lifted it with one hoof and put it back on the anvil before letting go and panting. Uguns was laughing.
“Well, you can lift the thing. A few more weeks and you might be able to hammer the metal flat.”
“You think so?” Vindictus felt a bubble of excitement rise in his chest but it was instantly burst at the sound of a loud voice.
“UGUNS!” The chief stormed in. “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?”
The blacksmith looked at the large stallion.
“Chief?” He asked. “What do you mean?”
“Because of you, the wyrms are attacking!” He thundered. “We have less than ten minutes to-” He's cut short by an explosion of ice. They were all thrown back and Vindictus crashed against a wall of the large spire. He yelped in pain and fell to the ground. He looked up weakly and saw Uguns draw a large sword. It was a claymore, at least two meters in length and it looked extremely sharp. The explosion had been caused by a huge creature that looked vaguely familiar to the colt but he couldn't place it. It looked like a large, furry white pillar with splotches of grey and light blue. There was a roar and another explosion from outside. Ponies screamed and ran for shelter, even though they knew it would make no difference.
Uguns roared and ran forward. He swung the sword at the pillar and it cut through the fur like a knife through snow. A dark red liquid gushed out, splattering everything. There was a high-pitched shriek and the pillar collapsed, crushing half the spire as what looked like organs spilled from the cut. The smithy picked up Vindictus and ran outside, where there were several large holes in the ground. Even more ponies were lying dead or dying, most pinned to walls and the ground by long shards of ice, their blood a stark red against the blue of the ice. Uguns ran past the holes in a random direction. They passed several stallions running in the opposite direction, weapons in hoof and armour on. The screams and sobs of the dying and fleeing were mingled with both the roars of the Frost Wyrms as they emerged from the ice and the yells of the ponies as they tried to fight the serpentine creatures. The blacksmith and the colt ran out of the village, passing the 2 tall towers that marked the entrance to it. As they did, one of the wyrms exploded from the ice right in front of them and one of the shards made a deep gash in Vindictus' side which drew a cry of pain from him. The creature roared and dived back down. Uguns dived out of the way first and the cot dived a second later, but slightly too late. He didn't jump far enough and he fell down the tunnel the Wyrm had created. He screamed as he fell, fear grasping his heart and causing him to flail his arms as he fell into the dark abyss. Uguns shouted his name but knew he couldn't help. He sighed and stood before running away again. There was nothing he could do now. As he ran, he thought about the great things that pony could have achieved. He had been five hundred years old, yet he was still a colt. Even so, that colt was as strong as most stallions in their prime and even most of those stallions had trouble lifting his hammer. There might be a chance the colt had lived. He'd gotten beaten a lot at the village but had never backed down. Vindictus was an angry colt. He'd never looked for a fight but never backed down from one, either. He was only a young colt and even though he was strong, numbers and size often overpowered him, leaving him broken and bloody on the ice. Even then he always fought back to his hooves and continued fighting. A normal foal would have died long ago but Vindictus was not a regular colt. Uguns sighed and continued walking, the claymore strapped to his back.


Vindictus landed on his right wing and heard it snap instantly. He screamed in pain and the sound echoed through the tunnel to be answered by nopony. He whimpered in pain but slapped himself. Now was not the time for tears. He pushed the pain aside and pushed himself to his hooves, then looked around.
“Hello?” He called only to be answered by his echo. He started walking, surrounded by an eerie blue glow of the ice all around him. The sides were impossibly smooth and were partially transparent, revealing skeletons and objects that had long since been frozen in the ice. The colt looked around, all his senses on high alert. He heard scratching and scraping every now and then but stopped noticing them after a while. They must be from other tunnels connected to this one. That was when he stopped. What if this was a huge tunnel system? Would there be a way to the surface? If so, would he be able to find it? He asked themselves these questions but he found no answers, so he just continued walking. He knew this was a Frost Wyrm tunnel. After all, it had been one of those things that had gotten him down here. He still had to see one, though. It would be interesting to see what they looked like up close, even if it would only be for a few seconds before he died. But he'd always been daring like that. The only source of meat was the smaller creatures like the Reiks and the chimeras. Their flesh was very tough, but once cooked right it was delicious.
Vindictus' mouth began to water at the thought of it and his stomach rumbled. He suddenly realized that he hadn't eaten in days. He looked around but found nothing, so he put his hunger aside with his pain and continued walking. After a while, he arrived in a huge cavern. He looked up and saw that it led to the sky. As the walls went up, there were holes in them that were very smooth around the edges. The walls themselves were jagged and looked like they would be easy to climb. Just as he was about to begin, he heard an all too familiar roar and dived behind a large chunk of ice.
A Frost Wyrm had appeared from one of the holes in the walls and was roaring at another Wyrm. This one was keeping quiet and trying to get away but the bigger one kept on forcing it back. As the bigger one continued to roar in the smaller one's face, it began to get louder and more ferocious.
The big one's fur was a shade darker than the smaller one and had more grey and blue patches. Its teeth were too big for its mouth and stuck out from its lips at regular intervals. When it roared, the mouth opened wide enough to swallow at least eight stallions whole. The scales on its head were stark white and it had several scars where the scales had been torn out.
The small one was light grey and half the big one's size. It didn't have as many blue or grey patches and only the tip of its primary fang was visible when its mouth was closed. It stayed silent as it got roared at by the older one and kept its head down.
Vindictus watched the whole scene and felt tempted to attack the older one. He knew what it was like to have his elders toss him around like a disposable object, to be treated worse than the ice and the snow. But he wasn't ready to die. Not just yet. He kept on watching the scene and kept to himself. That is, until the older Wyrm wrapped its jaws around the smaller one and crushed it in half. Vindictus continued to stay silent but was now standing in plain sight. The large Wyrm turned and roared at him spittle flying everywhere and blood staining its teeth and lips. It started moving towards Vindictus, not bothering to go fast. The colt was way smaller than the serpentine creature and wouldn't get far should he decide to run. The colt took a step forward and his hoof hit something hard. He looked down and saw an icicle, long and sharp. He wrapped his hoof around it and held it up, knowing he was going to die but he didn't care. He'd seen too many young ponies and creatures die. Everywhere he went he saw an ice wolf kill a small learg. He saws young colts and fillies die from the cold. He saw young stallions killed in bar fights and muggings. He didn't want to deal with it anymore. He would die here, trying his best to kill a Frost Wyrm with an icicle.
Vindictus Vulnere closed his eyes, took a deep breath and stabbed the icicle upwards.
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


CHAPTER 3
ESCAPING THE ICE


Vindictus Vulnere emerged from the deep pit, the left side of his face very bloody and his hooves were tatterd from the climb up the jagged wall of ice. He squinted at the sunlight. He had no idea what time it was but it didn’t really matter. In the North, the sun was always high in the sky. He had heard of two powerful ponies further south who raised and lowered the sun, but their magic must not stretch as far as where he was. 
As he emerged, he saw another village a little bit ahead. The snow was shifting on the ground which was usually the sign of a blizzard. The young stallion took a deep beath, then began walking. His hooves and lower legs were numb from the cold and he ahd to concentrate hard to avoid falling face first. He’d lost a lot of blood and was exhausted. He was sure that if he fell, he might never get back up. 
As Vindictus took his first step, he looked down at his hoof. The icicle was still clenched in it, blood dripping from the tip and turning the ice red. He sighed and contined walking, feeling the wind pick up and slice through his bones like a scythe. He hadn’t had time to grab his frs when he and Ugns had fled the previous village but maybe this village would have some spare. 
His hoof hit a bump in the snow and he went sprawiling onto the ice. The stallion grnted as his jaw bashed the ice and he tasted the bitter tinge of blood on his tongue. He tried to push himself up but ended up falling again. Vindictus sighed and closed his eyes. It seemed that this was it for him. Hehad fought his best but now his strength had failed him. He was helpless and felt the snow piling up on his right side. Maybe he should just fall asleep. He was so tired, maybe he could try standing again when he woke up. So tired...

Uguns wrapped the scarf tighter around his face as he squinted to see through the snow. He saw the outlines of the telltale spires which meant there was a village ahead. He quickened his pace, breathing heavily as he fought through the blizzard. He was running low on provisions and would have run out over the next day or two. He was lucky tis village was here. If they had a forge, maybe he’d stay for a while. He thought for a moment, then shook his head. No, maybe he wouldn’t. It would remind him of Vindictus. Just thinking about the young stallion now made him sad. He’d been like a son tot he blacksmith and could have been a fantastic apprentice. Every day the alicorn would visit his forge and watch him hammer a pice of metal or sharpen a blade on the grindstone. They would have long conversations during which Uguns would tell Vundictus about different methods of forging weapons and armour, what to do and what to avoid, how to tell if when the metal’s ready to 
hammer, when to-
He tripped over something in the snow and cursed loudly as his scarf uwrapped from his face and he eat a mouthful of snow. He looked back to see what he had tripped over and saw what looked like a black lump in the snow. He frowned and walked towards it efore wiping snow from the shape. The snow underneath was red and wet. He wiped that away and his jaw dropped.
“Vindictus!” He gasped and instantly grabbed the unconsious pony and slung him over his back. He started galloping towards the village. The kid looked like he’d been bleeding badly. He could feel him breathing, but it was dangerously faint. If he didn’t get warm soon he may end up being paralyzed or even dead. 
As they drew closer to the village, another pony ran to meet them. He shouted over the wind in his own tongue and Uguns replied in kind. They then both started galloping towards the village and reached it just as an unfortunate sabre wolf was hurled through the air from the forceof the wind. The wall surrounding the village kept the ponies inside from being blown away. They took Vindictus to a large spire and laid him down on a soft fur rug next to the fire. The blood from his face had slowed to a trickle but that didn’t mean he it was getting better. The pony ran back out while Uguns sat next to the stallion, folding his legs underneath him. 
A few minutes later, the pony returned with an elderly mare. The mare was a unicorn and wore a mask which covered the lower half of her face. As she entered, Uguns drew a sharp breath. The Healers of Ice Spire were a rare sight outside the tall hollow spire which was deep in the mountains. It was so tall that the tip was lost in the clouds and it took almost a week to walk up all the stairs. All the acolytes of that holy place swore a sacred oath when they graduated and in order to seal it, they sacrificed their voice. Their tongue was torn out and their mouth stitched closed. Nobody knew what their mouths looked like after the precedure apart from the acolytes themselves, but nobody really wanted to know. 
The Healer walked to Vindctus and picke up a damp cloth from a bucket. She began to gently dab at his face, clearing the blood from his wounds. As the red liquid cleared, Uguns saw the source of the bleeding. There were three deep gashes on the left side of his face. They started just below his maneline and ran down the side of his face, over his eye and ended at the bottom of his jaw. 
The unicorn Healer’s horn began to glow and a green aura fellover Vindictus’s gashes. Uguns could see a hint of white there and he looked away. A few minutes passed in silence and the blacksmith began to relax. Until the screams started.

For thirteen days, Vindictus Vulnere screamed in pain as fire rushed through his veins and his coat turned into ice. He thrashed and the village had not thought something like this would happen so they locked him in the medical spire which also muted his screams slightly. Uguns stayed outside the pale blue spike, keeping watch over the young stallion. For the first couple of days one of the ponies would attempt to feed Vindicus but after one of them got their skull caved in by onw of his hooves, they got the message and stayed out of the spire. By the end of the fourth day, ponies had taken to praying or cursing whenever they passed the spire, throwing pitiful, fearful or hateful glances at the ice sike and Uguns. He didn’t bother himself with them, though. The chief had allowed them leave to spend their time in the village until Vindictus was well enough to leave. After that, though, they would have to leave. In his time travelling, the blacksmith had gained several friends in decent enough places who would be able to give them a hoof. 
Inside the spire had been completely destroyed. Vindictus had broken every piece of furniture and thrown the furs up to reveal the ice beneath. He’d spent the whole time running around, banging his head against the walls or lying on the ground and thrashing his limbs around. The whole time, however, he screamed. He didn’t know time, sleep or direction. But he wasn’t all there. His mind was blank and unconscious, thinking about somthing else entirely. He couldn’t get the image of several ponies out of his mind but they were strange. Their coats were very thin, almost flat, and a couple of them had wings. One of them had feathered wings and the other had wings similar to Vindictus’. They were both stallions. There was a third pony, a mare, who was grey in colour and with red eyes. Her cutie mark was a yellow pentagram in a black circle. Her mane was a dark brown with blue stripes and in a braid. 
The feathered stallion was also grey in colour, but a darker shade than the mare who was also a unicorn. The stallion’s mane was green with stripes of a lighter green through it. He also wore a piece of cloth around his neck and was smiling from ear to ear.
The second stallion was grey as well, but a far darker shade then either of the others. His eyes were golden and his mane was dark blue, as were his wings. He had a stern expression and was wearing something that looked like armour which had a blue gem on the chestpiece. The armour itself was dark blue.
The final pony was a mare, but Vindictus couldn’t tell what she looked like. She was clouded in shadow and it didn’t afford him a single glimpse of her. 
Those four ponies would come into his mind regularly and would play around. At least, the four he could see would. The shadowy mare always stayed away from the others and lept her head down. She seemed very shy and didn’t really do anything. Because of this, Vindictus spent most of his time focusing on her, wondering who she was and why she was staying away from the others. 
He looked at the other ponies as well and noted that the green-maned stallion’s cutie mark looked like a winged gem and the stallion in armour’s cutie wark looked like a black circle within a white circle. He didn’t know what that represented but he would probably find out.

After exactly thirteen days, the screams stopped abruptly. Uguns snapped awake and looked around, wondering what was off. He was on his stool, he still had his hammer, nopony had stollen his gold... then he remembered. It was silent. The blacksmith stood and flung the door to the spire open. Inside was Vindictus, lying amidts the debris of what was once a home. He walked over to the young stallion and checked his pulse before moving him into a comfortable position. By this time a small crowd had gathered to see what had happened. The healer walked in confidently and grunted to Uguns before gesturing for him to get out of the way.
“No,” The backsmith growled. “You don’t go near him, you understand me?” He said. The Healer simply walked forward and shoved Uguns out of the way. She was a lot stronger than she looked, almost unnaturally. She knelt beside the unconscious Vindictus, snapping an already broken table leg as she did. Her horn glowed and the stallion was again bathed in her magical aura. It was at this moment that his eyes snapped open and his hoof came up. It connected with the mask on the Healer’s face and caused a major dent in it, as well as snapping the mare’s head back and causing her to grunt. Vindictus then tore the mask off of the pony. Underneath was what looked like a jagged scar insteda of a mouth with terrible stitches holding it together. The healer’s eyes widened and she squealed before Vindictus brought his other hoof up. In it was the bloody icicle he’d been cutching the whole time and it was now in the forehead of the Healer. She stayed silent for a few seconds, then collapsed. The blood began to flow form her head and create a small puddle. 
Uguns stared at the young stallion. The Healers were said to be immortal. They were supposed to have endured every injury, every disease, every possible way of harm so they knew how to cure it. Vindictus had proven everypony wrong. 
The blood continued to pool around the Healer’s head as everypony stared. After several minutes of silence, Vindictus turned and walked towards the door. All the ponies parted before him, looking away sa he passed. Uguns stood and followed him but was stopped by the chief.
“You brought him here,” He snarled in the northern tongue. “He killed our Healer because of you!”
“Well, was I supposed to just leave him to die?” He asked back.
“Do you have any idea what we had to go through to get a Healer from the Spire itself!? You have outstayed your welcome,” The chief barked an order and all the ponies took up arms. Uguns looked over them all and nodded, sighing. 
“So be it,” he said, then took his hammer to hoof. “VINDICTUS!” He roared and threw the hammer. It sailed over the heads of ponies and landed at the hooves of Vindictus who had stopped and turned. He looked at it, then at the blacksmith’s face through th crowd. He had a small smile on his face.
“Run,” He said simply, then threw himself at the crowd. Vindictus let out a scream as his father figure threw himself on a blade. But the crowd didn’t stop there. They all surged forward, grabbing a part of Uguns and trying their best to tear it off. One of his legs was thrown into the snow a little bit away from Vindictus, who took the message. He grabbed the hammer in his mouth before turning and running. He ehard the chief bark another word and looked back to see several stallions chasing after him, their eyes wild and filled with lust for blood. 
Vndictus ran as fast as he could but he could hear them catching up. He wished desperately for a way to escape, another way to run that they couldn’t follow. He wished he could just fly up, out of their reach, and zoom through the air. 
Then his wish came true.
He closed his eyes, tears streaming down his cheeks and freezing on the ground. He willed something to happen, directing the mental energy towards the wings on his back. He’d never used them before, he’d never known how. The only times they moved was when they twitched occasionally or when he was sleeping. But now he tried to stretch them himself, to do what he’d heard ponies do beyond the Barrier. Then he felt them. For the first time, he felt his wings. And they were rising. Once they had gotten vertical, he willed them to go back down, and they did but still stretched. He repeated this motion, speeding it up until he felt himself rising. He opened his eyes and looked down as his hooves left the ground. He flailed his legs around, keeping his jaws clamped on Uguns’ hammer. He then relaxed and resumed flapping his wings, changing the pattern so he started moving forward. 
The villagers all gasped and pointed in amazement. There were no pegasi north of the Barrier, only earth ponies and unicorns. They had never seen a pony fly and were shocked. Vindictus didn’t focus on them, though. He just focused on flying forward.

He flew for several minutes before his wings began to hurt from exertion. He began to descend and tried to land carefully but was going too fast. As he landed, his hooves went out from under him and his face met the ice. His snout broke and he tumbled, gaining several new bruises. He was too tired to scream in pain as his snout broke and instead just groaned. He forced himself to his hooves and wiped the blood from his nose before noticing that his jaws were still locked on Uguns’ hammer. He took it out of his mouth and held it in his hoof, fresh tears coming to his eyes as he remembered the closest thing he’d had to a father. But Vindictus wiped his tears away and looked around. He had no idea where he was and no idea where to go. So he put the hammer back in his mouth and started walking in a random direction. Whenever his wings felt like it, he took flight again but could never stay up for very long. He covered a lot of ground when flying, however. 
Finally, he came to what looked like a wall. Except it was far too tall and wide to be a normal wall. He couldn’t even see the top of it or the ends of it. And it was also made of a very dark blue substance. He walked up to the wall and looked at it. It was very reflective and he could see his own body in it. He tapped it and realized it was ice, only very different form the ice Vindictus was used to. He looked up and down the wall but saw nothing, so he began walking to the right. He stayed next to the wall. He had something to follow now and he was curious as to if the wall had en end or a gate. It had to have a gate. Whoever made it would want a way to get past the wall. 
Vindictus walked for a long time, not bothering with flight this time around. He didn’t want to miss anything important like a sign or the gate. But he didn’t come across anything for hours. Just dark blue ice beside him and bright blue ice beneath him. His eyelids were becoming heavy and he yawned widely. Finally, he folded his legs beneath him and closed his eyes, the hammer still clenched in his teeth. He drifted to sleep.

He saw Uguns again, but he was different. There were countless scars on his body and it looked like they would open up again at the slightest push. His eyes are blank and dead as he stared straight at Vindictus.
“Uguns?” The young stallion asked. “You’re okay!” he rushed forward and embraced the blacksmith and hugged him for a full minute before backing away. The joy was short lived, though, as he saw how Uguns didn’t respond. He just stared straight ahead, eyes glazed over. 
“You killed me,” A voice said from behind him. Vindictus whirled and saw Uguns again, except this one was different. Hate was evident in every line on his face and his eyes burned with it.
“What do you mean?” Vindictus asked.
“If you had just had the decency to die in that hole I’d be alive right now. But no, you had to go ahead and kill a bloody Wyrm and come back out. I should have left you to die instead of helping you. You’re pathetic, not even able to take care of yourself!”
Vindictus shook his head weakly, tears streaming down his cheeks again.
“No... it can’t be real, it’s not real!” He turned to the other Uguns and looked at him hopefully for a few seconds. Then the body started to shift. His head slowly began to slide to the left and eventually fell from his shoulders, blood spurting from the neck. Then his right foreleg collapsed and his whole body fell in a pile of body parts. Vindictus watched it all in horror before turning back to the other Uguns.
“You don’t deserve to live,” The blacksmith snarled before drawing a dagger and stabbing it at Vindictus’s chest.

Vindictus woke up with a scream and punched at Uguns, who he still half saw in front of him. He felt his fist make contact and fell back, taking deep breaths. He finally blinked and realized he was awake, but that wasn’t the only difference. He looked around. He was no longer in the snow or leaning agaist the dark blue ice. He was in a spire... but it wasn’t a spire. It was a room, square in shape. He was also lying in something soft and warm. It was large and covered part of the room’s floor. The walls looked like ice but even from the soft thing he was on, he could tell it wasn’t. It was too blue. He looked down at himself and saw that there was a arge piece of cloth over his body. It was very soft and comfortable. He raised a hoof to stroke it and noticed his hoof was red. It was also wet. With blood.
He looked around and saw a mare in a corner. It was an earth pony and she was crouched and whimpering, clutching her nose. Her hooves were red with her blood and Vindictus realized he must have accidentally hit her as he awoke. Instantly he felt a stab of guilt in his stomach and looked away. As he did, he noticed some brown poles running from the corners of the object he was laying on to the ceiling. There were curtains on them but they were tied to the poles. He looked at the curiously. 
Vindictus had no idea where he was or what any of this was, so he turned to the mare in the corner. He also noticed for the first time that she was sparkling and was a pale green in colour. Her mane was a pale pink and was tied in a bun. He forced his surprise to the side for now, though.
“Where am I?” He asked in the northern tongue. The mare only heard guttural and raspy noises issuing from his mouth. Immediately after asking this question, the mare wailed and galloped towards the door, which she flung open and ran out, crying. Vindictus just watched her go and sighed. 

Princess Cadence walked through the corridors of the Crystal Palace to where their guest was staying. She was slightly annoyed that he had assaulted one of her staff but this was all a new experience for him. And if the North was as harsh as she had heard, he was going to be hostile. This was why she had multiple guards with her. Just two hundred years as princess and she was already dealing with foreign ponies. Cadence sighed and shook her head slightly. This would take some getting used to, especially since she was still very young for an alicorn. At least her mother had taught her about being a princess. She felt a pang of sadness as she thought about her mother who had passed away seventy years before. She had been ill for a long time before the pain finally ended. Cadence had been distraught and had spent three weeks crying and refusing to leave her chambers. It took a stern talk from one of the military commanders to make Cadence realize that it was now her in charge. 
The princess pushed these thoughts aside as they neared the pony’s chambers. She paused outside them and took a deep breath before opening the door. She looked at the young stallion on the bed but she knew he was only young by alicorn standards. He already had scars and his eyes were hard and slightly fearful. He was still lying in the bed and his head snapped towards the door as it opened. Cadence entered with her guards and smiled warmly at the stallion on the bed.
“Hello,” She said. The stallion just looked at her so she tried again. “My name is Princess Cadence. What’s your name?” 
The stallion replied but spoke in a completely different language. Cadence had forseen this and waved in a translator. The stallion spoke again, gesturing at the room and pointing to Cadence and the guards. The princess looked at her translator but he shrugged his shoulders.
“I’m sorry, your highness. I’ve never heard that language before...”
“I thought you understood every language,” Cadence said.
“Every known language,” The translator replied sadly. “Alas, I do not know this one. Perhaps she really is one of the barbarians from beyond the Barrier,”
Suddenly, the stallion grabbed the inkwell, quill and parchment from his bedside table. The guards drew their weapons but Cadence held up a hoof, motioning for them to put their blades away. The stallion wrote quickly and frantically and finished after a minute. He offered the parchment to Cadence. She used her magic to levitate it towards her and cringed slightly at the hateful hiss from the stallion. She took the parchment in her hoof and let her magic die down and the stallion calmed. She looked at what he had written. It was just a bunch of random symbols which she had never seen before. 
The translator looked at it and a smile spread across his face. 
“I know this transcript!” He said happily. “I can translate it, but it could take a while. May I?” He asked, holding out a hoof. Cadence gave him the parchment and he bolted from the room. Cadence looked at the stallion before turning and walking out of the room, her guards following. She closed the door behind her and sighed. Nothing could be done until her translator had finished with that lette
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


CHAPTER 4
A NEW FRIEND


Several months had passed since the stallion had been brought into the Crystal Palace and Cadence was still uncertain about keeping him here. Many Words, her translator, had spent almost every day with the stallion. So far he’d learned that the stallion’s name was Vindictus Vulnere and that his father had been killed by one of the villages. Hehad also translated the parchment, which read: 


Where is the hammer? Uguns’ hammer, I need it. Please, give it to me. 
Please.



Many Words thought he was referring to the hammer that the guards had found him with just beyong the Barrier so they had given it to him and he’d never let go of it since. Aside from that, the translator had been teaching Vindictus how to speak Equestrian and he could now be understood although he had a thick accent. Cadencse decided she would visit him today. She hadn’t seen the stallion since that first time. Apparently he’d only slept a few times in the minths he’d been here and had slowly been losing his fear and uncertainty of the crystal around him. He had needed to be taught to bathe, though. The falling snow must have been enough to keephim clean in the north, apparently. Other than that he hadn’t been allowed to leave his chambers. Many Words had reported that he felt like a prisoner and wanted to be let out but Cadence wasn’t ready to take that chance. She had to protect her subjects first and foremost and if that meant keeping a foreign pony prisoner, so be it. But she couldn’t help but feel slightly guilty. This stallion has fought his whole life and seen his father torn apart before his eyes. He only just learned to fly a few months ago and has probably forgotten how to by now. She might have to teach him herself, seeing as she was the only pony in the Crystal Empire with wings. But would their difference in wing type affect anything? Probably not. At the end of the day, all wings were made of a set of bones. Wether it was membrane of feathers connecting them shouldn’t make a difference. 
Cadence sighed as she got up from the throne and called for her guards. She would pay Vindictus a visit now and get it over with. She began walking out of the throne room then paused. She waved the commander over. 
“Dismiss your ponies, commander,” She said and the stalion nodded before barking the orders to the other guards. They each saluted and returned to their prevoious post. Cadence then resumed walking, the commander in tow. 

Vindictus snapped his head around. He’d been leaning on the windowsill while looking outnover the Empire. It was so bright and colourful and he could see everypony bustling around in the streets. He saw foals playing and adults chattig and laughing with each other. He even saw a stallion helping a small colt who was crying on the ground. Vindictus felt a stab of sadness when he saw that but pushed it out of his head as he heard the hoofsteps spproaching. The door opened to reveal the pink alicorn with feathered wings. He looked her over and stayed silent. Princess Cadence walked in but kept her distance. 
“Vindictus Vulnere,” She said. 
“Cadence,” Vindictus repied, ignoring her title. 
“How are you feeling?” She asked, ignoring the disrespect. 
“Like a rat in cage,” He replied. 
“If I let you out,” She said. “What would you do?” 
That made Vindictus pause. What would he do? He had nowhere to go, no idea what the world was like outside this room... so he shrugged. 
“Travel. Expore. What else would I do?” 
Cadence smiled. “I’m afraid we have to keep you here a little longer,” She said. “You may be able to leave by the week’s end.” She let that sink in for a moment. “Tell me, Vindictus... do you know how to fly?” 
“I know basics,” He replied. “Why?” 
“I can’t have a guest leave without knowing how to fly,” She smiled. 
“Guest? I thought I was prisoner.” 
“You made no attempt to escape, you were under no guard... you were a guest. Now, would you like to learn to fly?” 
“It would be... interesting,” he said, ignoring the first part of her statement. “But what is there to flying? I move wings up and down, I fly. I only need to work on endurance. “ 
“And improving that is simple; you fly as far as you can each day. Each day, you travel five sedonds farther than you think you can.” 
“Very well,” Vindictuc nodded. He then turned and leaned against the windowsill again, looking down on the Crystal Empire. Cadence thought of saying more but nothing came to mind so she walked up to him and put a hoof on his shoulder. She felt him tense at her touch and his hoof twitched slightly but didn’t move other than that. Cadence then turned and walked out of the room, the commander closing the door behid them. Vindictus continued watching all the ponies go about their business. He sighed and walked over to the desk against the far wall of the room. On it was Uguns’ hammer and he put his hoof on the handle. He then wrapped his hoof around it and lifted it off the table. He was tempted to smash the table in half but refrained himself. Instead he put the hammer down and sighed before lying on the hard floor and closing his eyes to drift into an uneasy sleep. 

Vindictus snapped awake still in the same position as when he slept. He raised his head and looked around and saw that it was nightime. He’d only recently gotten used to the world getting dark at certain times. He stood and walked back to the window, looking down at the empty streets. All was silent except the slight whispering of the wind. He closed his eyes and listened to it, sighing quietly. A small smile found its way to his lips. He felt calm, calmer than he had in a long time. He opens his eyes and sees a flash of a huge maw, razor sharp teeth coming at him as the Wyrm attempts to swallow him. Vindictus yelps and jumps back in surprise and fear, falling on his flank and staring fearfully at the open window. After a few seocnds he blinks and shakes his head before muttering to himself angrily. He should know better than to think there would be any Wyrms here. This was too far away from their tunnels. It was just a dream, nothing more. Vindictus walked back to the desk and looked at the parchments on it. They were his own attempts at trying to write in Equestrian but he didn’t understand any of it. He’d given up several days ago and had only glared at the translator when he prompted him to continue. 
“Rough night?” Vindictus whirled and raised the hammer but was greeted only by Princess Cadence. She smiled and nodded to him. He lowered the hammer and ran a hoof through his mane. 
“You could say that,” he replied. 
“Nightmares?” 
“Kind of,” 
“Do you want to talk about it?” 
“What good would that do?” 
“It would get it off your chest,” 
“But it won’t remove it.” He looked at Cadence. “Why do you care anyway?” 
“Because you’re my guest and I care about my guests.” She walked over and put a hoof on his shoulder again. Again he tensed up and his hoof twitched slightly. “You don’t have anything to fear from me. I’m your friend.” 
“Friends don’t trap each other.” He turned and walked back to the window. Cadence sighed and followed him. He glanced at her, his eyes cold and hard as ever. 
“Why don’t you trust me?” 
“Because how do I know you won’t stab me in the back?” He lifted the hammer from the table. “When will I leave?” 
Cadence regarded him for a moment. “What was your fathr like?” She asked. 
“What does it matter?” He said flatly. “He is dead now, end of story.” 
“How did he die?” 
“You know how. Why do you ask so many questions?” 
“I want to get to know my guest better.” 
“Your ‘guest’ will never come back here when he leaves.” 
“How can you be sure? You are an alicorn which means you live for a very long time. You coule travel the entire world twenty times before your back begins to ache.” She chuckled. “You’ll return. I can assure you of that.”ur mo 
Vindictus looked at her, a hint of curiosity in his eyes. “Why are you happy?” He asked. “Your mother died half a year ago yet you seem to love everyone else.” 
Cadence grimaced. “I’m the princess of love,” She said, sadness creeping into her voice. “It’s my duty to govern the Crystal Empire but also to make sure Equestria stays filled with love.” 
“So that’s how things work down here,” He said. “Someone dies and you stop their grief. You make them haooy about their brother’s passing.” 
“No, that’s not...” She sighed in frustration. “You have to understand that I have to keep Equestria happy and loving. If not, the entire nation will fall apart.” 
“I got on just fine without love,” Vindictus replied. 
“No, you didn’t,” Cadence said sadly. “B ut For every stallion, there is a mare and I’m sure you’ll fine somepony to love.” She smiled and turned to leave. 
“Why should I?” He asked. Cadence turned and looked at him questioningly. He was looking at her expectedly. 
“Why should I find love? Even if I do love somepony they will die long before myself and it will only cause me pain. Why would I want any more pain?” 
“Because no matter how brief, love is the greatest feeling in the world.” She smiled and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Vindictus sighed and walked back to the window. The sun was just rising and he watched it as it rose, squinting against the light. He felt like he was missing something but he didn’t know what it was. Closing his eyes, he concentrated hard and tried to remember what it was but just as he thought he had it, it slipped away. In the end he gave up and walked back over to the desk where he picked up Uguns’ hammer again. He sighed and held it to his forehead, feeling the cool metal against his fur and the base of his horn. After a few minutes he opened his eyes and walked towards the door, which he opened. There were no guards outside so he stepped out and looked left and right. The corridor was long and empty with several door leading off of it. He gripped the hammer in his mouth and started walking to the left, remembering the hoofsteps of Cadence. He listened at each of the doors but heard nothing from them except the occasional snore or grunt of somepony sleeping. 
Vindictus walked further and finally came to a cylindrical staircase going down. He looked down the corridor again, then began to descend. The staircase was unremarkable, just pale pink crystal walls with a slightly paler pink for the steps. There were thin arrow slits periodically down the walls and it looked as if they hadn’t been used in a long time by the amount of dust accumulated in them. He blew the dust out of one and watched the small cloud for as long as it was visible before continuing on his way. He finally reached the bottom of the stairs and opened the door. The first thing he saw was a crystal sculpture which was floating between 2 crustal pullars, one elading fro the floor and one from the ceiling. In between them was a sculpture of a love heart and it was foating. He shot it a glance then turned and looked around. He was in a room with no walls. There were just pillars on four corners, the stair case behind him and the pillars with the heart. All the rest was open space and he could see some ponies tiredly walking through the streets. They were all crystaline and sparkled in the sunlight. 
Vindictus walked to the right, giving the heart a wide berth, and walked into the sunlight. He squinted and raised a hoof to block the light. He quickly became very hot and began to sweat so he trotted to a shadow and rested a bit in the coolness. All the shining ponies looked at him curiously but otherwise paid him no attention, instead they just went about their business. Vindictus watched them all walk by with his usual cold eyes. He gripped the hammer in his mouth and began walking again, tryig to stick to the shadows. He had no idea where he was and didn’t know where he was going so he just walked randomly. He passed a marketplace where ponies were starting to sell their wares and attract attention to their stalls. Vindictus ignored them and tried to keep to the shadows but because the buildings were made of crystal, they were partially transparent so he was sweating within an hour. He sighed and sat down on a bench.
“Hey, you there!” A stallion walked up to him and grinned. “Ye look like ya know how t’ use tha’ thing,” He said, gesturing tothe hammer in Vindictus’s mouth. “How’d you like t’ use ma forge for t’ day?” 
Vindictus stared at the stallion. He was of regular height with a light brown coat and a dark grey mane. His cutie mark was one of an anvil and he was a unicorn. He had a light stubble and his eyes were grey. 
“What?” The alicorn asked, dumbfounded. 
“I’ve got summat I need t’ do and ah need someone t’ mind t’ shop,” He gestured a few doors down the street, where there was as picture of an anvil on a swinging sign. Vindictus looked back at the stallion. 
“What’s the catch?” He asked. He had been wanting to craft something for a whilenow but the palace didn’t have a forge. 
“Just t’ mind the shop. Ye can keep it shut if ye want, it’s mainly fer keepin’ thieves out,” He shrugged. 
“Uh... sure, I’ll do it.” Vindictus stood and accepted the key form the stallion who then thanked him and trotted off. The alicorn watched him leave, then shrugged and went over to the blacksmith shop. He opened the door and was greeted with a smithy, a smelter, a tanning rack, grindstone and workbench. He switched the sign to ‘closed’ and walked over to a cupboard labelled ‘ores.’ He opened it and was instantly impressed by how organised it was. Every small cabinet was labelled and in alphabetical order. Vindictus looked through them, trying to find one he was intrigued by. He found one, it was called osmium. It was a dull grey in colour so he took several chunks and put them in the smelter before beginning to add coal to the furnace. 
After a few hours, he noticed the ores weren’t smelting so he continued to add coal. After an hour, the ore had finally begun to start melting, so Vindictus began thinking of a mold to use. The blacksmith had a lot of weapon selections to choose from so Vindictus chose the war axe blade, which he moved under the tilting cup of the smelter which was now filled with liquid osmium. The metal filled the mold quickly and began to set. It was at this moment that Vindictus noticed another mold, this one in the shape of a scythe blade. He quickly got an idea and moved the scythe mold under the smelter before pouring more molten metal into the mold. By this time the axe blade had set so Vindictus took it in a pair of tongs and put it into the fire of the forge to heat up. 
Once it was white hot, the scythe blade had also set so he put that in the fire while he picked the axe up in the tongs again before setting it on the anvil. He then raised Uguns’ hammer and began hammering, the sound of metal on metal ringing throughout the small room. He hammered the edge of it specifically to get the edge as fine as possible before honing it. After he was partially satisfied, he dipped the thing in a bucket of liquid and waited until the steam and hissing had died down before putting it back in the fire. He then grabbed the scythe blade with t he tongs and repeated the process, again focusing more on the edge. When that was done, he tookt eh axe blade out of the fire again. He then turned the hammer over. On this side was a small spike that Uguns had used to carve designs on his work. Vindictus used this now. 
The osmium was softer due to the immense heat so it was easier to carve. He thought for a moment on what to put on it, then put an inscription on it. 

மரணம் எப்போதும் 

Once that was done, he stopped it altogether. He got the last remaining osmium from the still burning furnace and used it to attach the scythe and axe blades together with a metal pole in the middle. He held the three parts together as they dried, making sure to scrape any excess osmium off and make sure it was smooth and flawless. After half an hour, he carried the near-finished weapon to the grindstone and began sharpening the blades. As the sparks flew, he thought back to the North. He had been at home there. He may not have been accepted, he had even been shunned, but he’s grown up there and would go back if given the choice. But he’d asked to return to his homeland during his time in the Crystal Palace but everypony had given him the same answer; He would never return home. 

Several hours later, Vindictus snapped out of his daydreaming and looked around. He saw that he was still sharpening the blade and had absent-mindedly been switching between blades as he did. He stopped turning the stone wheel and looked at the edge. It looked sharp enough but he put it to his fur to make sure. With only the slightest pressure, the skin broke and a small red bead of blood appeared over the cut. He nodded and wiped it away before grabbing some leather and fashioning a sheath for it, which he strapped to his back. He put the weapon in it and grabbed a hooded cloak from a hook on the wall. He put it on, pulled up the hood and walked outside. It was evening and the sun was going down. He had nowhere to sleep and he had nowhere to go, so the alicorn began to wander. Strangely enough, he saw no guards. Nopony was pursuing him, even though he’d escaped from right under their snouts. Vindictus narrowed his eyes but kept walking through the darkening streets. They were deserted now and he was thankful for that. It meant there were less ponies who may be hostile towards him. 
As he was walking through the streets, he felt uncomfortable. He looked back but saw nothing but shadows and the faint glint of the crystal buildings. He turned back and continued walking, looking from left to right suspiciously. As he turned a corner, he heard somepony step to his right and he unsheathed his weapon and swung it swiftly, stopping it just at the throat of Princess Cadence. Vindictus narrowed his eyes. 
“Why are you following me?” he asked. 
“I wondered where you went,” She smiled. Vindictus didn’t like that smile. He didn’t like anything about the pink alicorn, now that he thought about it. 
“Why should you care? I’m just your prisoner,” 
“Oh, really? Would a prisoner be able to wander the streets of the Crystal Empire unguarded? Would a prisoner have a guest room in the Crystal Palace?” She smiled again. 
“What do you want from me?” He asked after a few moments’ hesitation. 
“I only want your trust and friendship,” 
“The moment I trust you, you’ll have me torn limb from limb and burned alive,” 
Cadence looked shocked. “What gave you that idea?” She asked. “As I said, I wish only to be your friend. You’ve been through so much at such a young age, you have to understand that I only want to help you,” 
“But why?” He asked again. “i have given you no reason to like me.” 
“I don’t need a reason. Friendship is a thing that nopony can explain. I am a princess of love, which is what I understand and encourage. Friendship is yet to be fully understood. All I know is that it is the best feeling I’ve felt so far,” She smiled at him. 
“What’s so great about it?” 
“Having friends is wonderful! Laughing with them, playing with them, telling stories with them... they make you happy and are always there when you need them,” 
Vindictus considered this, then shook his head. “I wouldn’t know anything about that. How do I know you’re not lying?” 
“Because I can show you proof,” She put her neck slight closer to his weapon blade, which was still close to her throat. “If you kill me now, you have lost a friend. If you let me live, you call me a friend.” She smiled and closed her eyes, waiting. 
Vindictus thought hard. He felt the strong urge to kill this mare, this mare who infuriated him and annoyed him so much. He raised the axe blade to swing, the blade of the scythe almost touching his other shoulder... then stopped. 
This mare had been kind to him. She had housed him, fed him, even would have clothed him had he not turned them down. He would probably be dead if it wasn’t for Cadence. She could have ordered Vindictus’ death any time she wanted but instead she was kind to him. She offered to help him understand what she claimed was the greatest feeling in the world. She had tried to help him countless times and he had turned her away at every turn and even still she persisted, trying to help Vindictus. He didn’t know why she did it. All he knew was that he owed her a lot. 
The butt of the pole hit the ground with a small clink and Cadence looked up. She saw the stallion looking at her with those cold eyes, eyes that looked like ice itself. 
“I become your friend,” He said. “On one condition.” 
“What is it?” She asked, 
“I want you to let me leave this place.” 
“When?” 
“Whenever I please. For now, I will return every night at sundown. On the day I stay away, don’t come looking for me. I will have made my own way.” 
Cadence smiled. “Come on, then. I’m sure you've never tried cocoa.”
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


CHAPTER 5 
THE MERCENARY 



500 Years later 

Vindictus was flying over the snowy wastelands past the borders of the Crystal Empire. He had a hunting dagger in his hoof sheath and was looking for a kill. He flew down and landed before drawing his dagger and looking around carefully, scrutinizing every inch of the layout. He closed his eyes and listened intently before opening his eyes again. He heard something different from a small mound of snow so he walked towards it and wiped the snow away. Inside was a small snow fox and it cowered in front of Vindictus, whimpering fearfully. He crouched down and put a hoof on its back. At his touch, it tried to dash away but he just put his dagger in front of it. The fox impaled itself on the blade. It twitched for a few moments, then went limp. Vindictus went into his saddlebags and took out a small campfire kit. He started the fire and filled a small pit with water, which he began to boil. He added separate herbs and spices to it before skinning the fox. He cut off chunks of meat and dropped them into the stew. Once he had a decent amount of meat in it, he stirred it constantly, making sure the stew flavoured the meat and then left it to simmer. Once it was done, he poured it into a small bowl and began to eat. The meat was good after three weeks of fruit and vegetables. He savoured the taste of it with the herbs and spices mixed in and smiled slightly. He finished it quickly, though, as Cadence was expecting him back at the Palace. He quickly packed everything away and took flight again, heading back to the Crystal Empire. On the way, he scanned the landscape beneath him. Even though he knew it was a barren wasteland of snow and ice, he couldn’t help but search for hostility. All he saw was snow, snow and more snow. There was nothing interesting here. 
He flew for a few hours before he reached the gates to the Crystal Empire. The force field prevented entrance from the air so Vindictus landed and walked past the guards stationed at the gate. They nodded to him but he paid them no heed. He’d trained with the guards and found them all to have the exact same fighting style; they all fought by the rules and played clean. He had started like that, but then realized he was getting beaten more than he was winning. So he’d started using dirty tricks and going against the rules. Since then, he had won much more and hadn’t lost in several months. The guards protested, of course, but didn’t argue. 
Now, he walked into the Crystal Palace and smiled as he saw Cadence. In the thousand years he’d spent in the Crystal Empire, Cadence had been his best friend the whole time. He now used the Palace’s forge regularly and made the guards’ weapons and armour. Now, though, he nodded to Cadence and she trotted up to him. 
“How are you, Vindictus?” She asked, smiling. 
“I’m doing well,” He replied. “Yourself?” 
“Good,” she said. “However, we are receiving reports of something coming north,” She said with a hint of concern in her voice. 
“What is it?” He asked. 
“From the reports, there’s a unicorn heading this way. He’s crowned himself king and wants the Crystal Empire,” She looked up at him. 
“Then we have to stop him,” He said. “We have to fight him and make sure he doesn’t take the Empire,” 
“We can’t, Vindictus,” Cadence sighed. “Our numbers are too few. King Sombra is too powerful for us to defeat on our own.” 
“And Celestia and Luna are just sitting back and watching this!?” He asked, anger rising. 
“There is nothing we can do!” 
“We can fight!” 
“If we fight, we die! And I would much rather live...” 
Vindictus was breathing heavily. “You have already given up,” He said. “You spend months making me your friend and never give up when I refuse. A unicorn wants to take over your kingdom and you quit before the battle even starts. I should have known. You’re just a coward.” He turned and walked out of the Palace. Before he left, however, he heard a sob from behind him and instantly felt a stab of guilt in his gut. He ignored it, however. He was too angry to care about it right now. Once outside, he spread his wings and took flight, flying south. He flew higher and higher until he was above the clouds. He breathed in the air and breathed deeply, tears streaming down his cheeks. Cadence had been his only friend, the one who had housed and fed him all these centuries and he yells at her for this. They had never once had an argument before, not even when Vindictus told her his carnivorous appetite. She had just smiled and made him promise to eat his meals when he hunted them. 
Vindictus kept flying, staying above the clouds. He didn’t know he could walk on cloud at this point, so he didn’t try landing on them. 
He flew for hours when finally his wings began to get tired and strained. He began to descend and flew through a patch that was clear of clouds. He then flew lower, straining his wings a lot to stop himself from falling to his death. Finally, though, he landed and folded his wings. He breathed heavily, getting his breath back. Once he was fit enough, he pulled his hood up and made sure he had his weapon on his back before taking in his surroundings. 
He was in a city similar to the Crystal Empire, but it was very different. The walls weren’t transparent and they didn’t shimmer in the sunlight. The ponies were also different; they weren’t crystalline, either. And they took one look at the rugged alicorn before turning their noses up and walking away. They all wore rich, expensive clothes and spoke in a very posh manner. Vindictus didn’t care he just started walking down the street. Everything was so different, he didn’t know where he was or where he was going to. He looked up and saw a castle looming over the city. It looked familiar, but he couldn’t place where he’d seen it before. 
Before he could think much about it, however, a hoof grabbed his mane and yanked him off the road. He yelped and instantly drew his dagger before turning and putting it to the throat of the pony who’d grabbed him. 
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t pour your blood all over the ground,” He growled. 
“Because I have a job for you,” The pony said. It was a stallion, slightly shorter than Vindictus, and a military green in color. His mane was black and he was wearing military uniform. 
“What kind of job?” Vindictus asked. 
“The kind where you fight,” The stallions replied. “You look like the kind of stallion who likes a fight. The West want to hire you.” 
Vindictus froze. “Hire me for what?” He asked suspiciously. 
“A war. South and West are going at it and we need mercenaries like yourself,” 
“Mercenaries?” He blinked. He’d heard that mercenaries were muscle for hire. They didn’t live long as whoever hired them wanted them dead before they could turn and betray them for more bits. He didn’t want to be like that but at the same time, he didn’t really have a choice. If he just stayed here, jobless, he’d die very quickly. And fighting was all he knew, so being a mercenary... he had to take the chance. 
Vindictus lowered the dagger. “Take me to the army,” He said. 

80 YEARS LATER

The eve of battle was always the worst. The tension, the foreboding, the expectation of death the next day. Everypony was making their final preperations; sharpening their weapons, making sure their armour was the best it could be, training for what could be the last time of their lives. Vindictus was at the forge, putting the finishing touches on his own helmet. It was forged in the shape of the top of a dragon’s skull and was made of osmium. When he put it on, the whole top of his head was covered by the skull and the teeth created a cage around his lower jaw. His armour was mostly plain, although it had loads of small spikes on it. The spikes all curved upwards and towards his head so if he ran into somepony, they would get several bad gashes. 
After finishing his helmet, he put it on. There was a horn on the snout of the dragon and his own horn was sorrounded by 4 curved blades that were all longer than his horn and all met at the top to create a deadly point. His wings were poking out of the armour as well. He’d made flaps on the sides to allow him to extend his wings without the membrane being torn to shreds. All the spikes on his armour had been sharpened to a deadly point and he took great care in getting it on. Once it was on, he drew his weapon; the long pole with the axe blade on the end, but also a scythe blade. On the axe blade, the inscription was still clear: 

மரணம் எப்போதும் 

He swung it with precision and began his training. All the other ponies made sure to stay out of reach of the weapon, not wanting to die before they had a chance to fight. Vindictus didn’t care much, really. He was here to kill and die, should it come to that. He stopped and sighed. Cadence had tried to take all the anger out of him but she had failed. Vindictus guess that she knew it was hopeless to rid him of his feelings but even then, she still tried. She didn’t give up. He pushed the memory from his head before it got a hoofhold. The war had been going on for forty years now. Now nearly every continent was fighting; Equestria, the West, and East and the South. The North had stayed out of the battle; They took no part in wars. The Crystal Ponies were also missing and that made Vindictus worried. That King Sombra unicorn probably took over the Empire. Vindictus closed his eyes and fought back tears. That probably meant that Cadence was dead. 
Again, he forced the thought out of his mind. He had a war to fight in. Ponies had taken to calling this The Great War and they reckoned it wouldn’t end for a long time yet. The royalty from all kingdoms were making alliances, breaking them and fighting their old allies, then siding with whoever looked like they would win then stabbing them in the back... Every army had experienced wins and losses, they had lost commanders and promoted ponies to that position only to have them killed again. Mercenaries had been hired by one land, the turned and joined with the opposite side at the jingle of coins. 
Every army was growing tired and the royalty were currently meeting to discuss peace treaties while the generals still commanded the armies. Vindictus was now part of the Southern army. For the most part, he’d fought for the East but then his own comrades had tried to kill him during a battle with the South, so he switched allegiances. He’d had to use hoof-me-down armour in the East but the South had a healthy supply of osmium, so he made his own armour. He had several new scars; three across his belly from a pony using a rake, one on his chest from an axe, several on his legs from swords and other weapons. He had killed more ponies than were in any of the armies now and all four kingdoms had resorted to dragging stallions who were over the age of ten and under the age of seventy to fight. Half of them had never held any form of weapon other than a rake of shovel before. Most of them died in their first battle and the ones who survived were usually promoted instantly to fill in the blanks of the ponies who’d also died. So many had died that the soldiers didn’t even bother clearing the battlefields now, leaving the bodies for the crows and vultures. 
Vindictus sighed and closed his eyes. He promised himself that he would visit Cadence when this was done. He promised himself he would not die until he’d made sure his friend was alive. 
“Vulnere!” A voice snapped him out of his daydream. He opened them and looked at a corporal standing before him. “Prince Harena has summoned you,” He turned and walked away. Vindictus sighed and walked towards the prince’s tent. This prince was very daring, to fight alongside his soldiers. But seeing their leader in battle gave the soldiers morale and they had won the most victories out of all the kingdoms. He stood outside the tent and took a deep breath. He’d heard that this prince was very demanding and loved to cross every line possible to infuriate his subjects. He pushed the flap aside and walked in, still clad in his armour. 

Vindictus was flying a little above the royal carriage. Prince Harena had been called to the peace treaties in Canterlot, the capital of Equestria. He had wanted Vindictus to be his personal bodyguard, much to the discomfort of his small council. They didn’t like the idea of a mercenary guarding their prince, but Harena wasn’t one to let others tell him what to do. If he wanted to do something, he made sure he got it. He didn’t know how good of a fighter Vindictus was, but he knew that the armour was very intimidating, so he chose him. It was all for looks, there would be no bloodshed at this meeting. It was purely a peace treaty and nothing more. Vindictus was just there so Harena could say “ Look what I’ve got! I’ve got a big brute just as a bodyguard! You can’t do anything to me!” 
As they drew closer to the mountainside city, Vindictus felt a feeling of déjà vu. He followed the carriage as it landed outside the castle and he looked up at it. He’d seen that castle before but he couldn’t place it... he shook his head and followed Prince Harena into the palace. It had a large interior but he didn’t bother admiring the decor. He just stared straight ahead, his armour clinking quietly as he walked. His helmet made him look more menacing than he already was and his ice cold eyes just made it seem scarier. 
After twisting and turning through the corridors, they reached a small room. In the room was a table and around the table were the royalty from all 4 kingdoms were gathered. Harena sat next to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna while Vindictus stood behind him. Then all the ponies started yelling at each other at the same time, leaning on the table and throwing accusations around. They were all screaming angrily, getting louder and louder as they tried to shout over the top of each other. It soon became too much. 
“STOP!” Vindictus roared, silencing them all. He spoke in the Northern tongue, so everypony just looked at him. There was silence for a while, in which Vindictus just stayed silent again. Before long, the ponies started talking again but this time, they did so in a civilized manner. They took turns in talking and didn’t shout once more. Vindictus could see the bodyguards whispering to each other on the other side of the room and he eyed them suspiciously. The treaties went on without further incident and an agreement was finally settled. The war was over. 

Or so they thought.
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


CHAPTER 6 
A DIFFERENT ICICLE






Vindictus Vulnere sat in the equestrian medical tent. He had a needle and thread in one hoof and was stitching the third gash on the left side of his stomach. The deep cuts had been done by three separate weapons, it was just coincidence they had slashed so parallel to each other. The sharp, curved needle punctured his flesh and he pushed it through the cut and back out through the other side or the gash. He then pulled the thread through, feeling it rub against the skin and muscle as he pulled it tight, closing part of the gash. He continued this until it was half stitched, which was when he heard a voice. 
“You know, that will look a lot better if you let a medic deal with it,” 
He snapped his head up and glared coldly at the mare standing before him. She was small, nearly half his own height, with a long brown mane which had a pale blue streak through it. Her eyes were blood red and her coat was a light grey. Her cutie mark was covered by a military medic cloak. 
“I doubt it,” he replied and resumed stitching. 
“Give me the needle. Now.” Her voice was much colder now, almost commanding. 
“Do your job and leave me in peace,” He replied. !”And nopony needs to get hurt.” His voice was completely devoid of all emotion. 
The mare's eyes flashed from red to an emerald green. “You are part of my job. Let me stitch that for you or get the hell out of my tent.” 
Vindictus stopped and looked up. He wasn't surprised by the change of eye color, he'd seen unicorns change their whole facial apeparance. 
“The last time a healer went near me, I was tortured for two weeks,” he said. “Go and attend to others so nopony gets hurt more than they already are.” 
“And Ice Healer by any chance? Don't worry, I may be a harsh mare but I'm not that bad. Trust me.” 
“Why should I trust you?” he asked. “I don't even know you.” He felt a feeling of recognition nagging at the back of his mind, but he ignored it. 
The mare looked at Vindictus with a look of sincerity, her eyes flashing back to red. “Look into my eyes, it's not hard to trust me.” 
He looked into her eyes with that freezing cold gaze of his. “I don't trust ponies I've just met,” He said and looked back down, resuming his work. 
“Then maybe you'd better learn,” She said. “Because that stitching is terrible.” 
“It doesn't matter,” He replied. “It stops the blood.” 
“It may stop the blood but it's not going to heal properly and you'll be VERY lucky if that doesn't get infected.” 
“I've patched myself up for over 2,000 years. If I die, I die.” 
“And how does it help this war if you die, Vindictus Vulnere?” 
“It does nothing for the war,” Vindictus replied. “Soldiers die in war. Nothing can change it. I'll just be another meal for the crows and vultures.” 
The mare looked at him. “You may not have heard of me, but I've heard of you. Celestia may dislike you, but she claims you to be one of the best fighters we have. You deserve proper treatment, not butchery.” 
“A battlefield is little more than a butcher's slaughterhouse. Ponies go out, get killed and their blood drains from them. The scavengers pick the bones.” 
“You think I don't know that?” The mare llifted her military cloak to reveal a freshly sewn wound over her cutie mark, which was a golden pentagram within a black circle. “And that's just from dragging ponies from the battlefield so I an try to send them home!” 
Vindictus looked at the cutie mark and instantly had a sharp pain in his head. He gasped and dropped the needle, raising a hoof to his head as the memory of that dream flooded back into his mind. 
The mare lowered the cloak and retrieved the needle. “Are you okay?” She asked. 
“Ah....” Vindictus looked up. “Who are you?” 
“I'm sergeant major Icicle Wishes, trained medic professional,” She replied. 
He thought for a moment. He remembered the dream he'd had so long ago, of the 3 ponies playing and the lonely mare in the shadows. He shook his head before looking at Icicle one more time. He stood and retrieved his armour, putting it in his saddlebag before walking out of the tent. 
Icicle watched the alicorn leave. “What a strange stallion,” She mumbled to herself before shaking her head and going back to her duties. 

It was midnight and ponies were still awake, too nervous to sleep. They were laughing around the campfires, trying to enjoy what could potentially be the last night of their lives. They exchanged stories and spoke about their families and special someponies, recalling their good memories and having an overall good time. The colts were trying to fit into armour which was a bad fit in the first place but it would keep them alive longer than if they were naked. They spoke with fear in their voices and looked around with wide eyes. The older colts, the ones in the 16-17 age group, were ore bold and interacted with the other soldiers freely, thinking they would go home as heroes and not even be slightly swayed by the horrors of war. Then there were the old ponies, the ones with greying hair and smoking their pipes and already ready for the upcoming battle. 
Vindictus was standing on his own, as usual. He was standing on the edge of the camp, surveying the large expanse of land and the 3 other camps in the distance. The war would end tomorrow. It would all be over. He turned to walk back to the camp, his dark grey armour clinking slightly as he moved, when he saw a light in the sky. He turned and looked up at it right before it sailed over his head and hit the camp behind him. There were screams and sudden activity as similar fireballs shot from the southern camp to the east and west camps. The battle was starting early, this wasn't right. The south and the East had forged an alliance, they shouldn't be attacking them. Vinny sighed and put his helmet on. The final battle was about to begin and not a single army would help the other. It was every pony for themselves, no aliances, no friends. Only enemies. And when it was all over, corpses. 

18 hours later... 

Vindictus was lying on the battlefield, a large gash across his throat. The rest of his body was covered in smaller cuts, all oozing blood. He was extremely lucky; the gash hadn't gone through any major veins, arteries or his windpipe. His armour was scratched but nothing serious. It was very bloodstained, though. The thorns and horn blades were the worst, having been used to kill just as many ponies as his weapon. His breath was ragged and short, his body trying to prevent too much movement so as not to damage his throat any more than it already was. His teeth were clenched together hard and his hooves were still clenched around the weapon. 
Icy prepared herself for the worst part of her job. Battlefield clean up. She had to decide who to save, and who she had to leave to die. She scanned the field quickly, at first overlooking the large alicorn, presuming him to be already dead. But then she saw him move slightly, so she galloped over quickly and glanced over his wounds. As she looked over Vindictus's wounds, she bowed her head, 
"I- I can't save your life, I'm sorry." 
He just laughed. 
"What life?" He asked. "I was dead before this battle started." 
"That doesn't mean I should be happy about leaving you to die." She turned to walk away. He forced himself into a sitting position and thought. 
"What about... magic?" He said the last word in a hateful tone, but there was also a bit of fear in it as well. 
"You won't let me touch you. Why should I help you if you won't let a healer near you? There are ponies here who would give their hind legs for my help." 
He raised an eyebrow. "Well, isn't this ironic? You want to help me, I don't need help. You don't want to help me, I need immediate help." He had a hoof covering his throat to try staunching the blood flow as much as possible. 
"I never said I didn't want to help, but I don't want to waste me time on a stallion who'll ultimately refuse help." 
He looked at her. "Do you hear me refusing?" he asked. 
"You appear to be stubborn, I doubt a few cuts would change your mind." 
"You know as well as me that everypony dies. If you refuse to help me, it is your fault I die. It's on your head." 
"Join several thousand ponies. All I need is your permission to treat you." 
"I thought it was your job to prevent death when you could. You can prevent my death right here and do you hear me saying no?" 
"Then shut up and lie still." 
"I'm not exactly going anywhere soon, am I?" 
She pushed a rag into his mouth. "I said SHUT UP! This is going to hurt." She opened her pack, levitated a 3 needles, several lines of thread and a lot of packing material out. She padded his neck wound, using all three needles to simultaneously stitch up his neck. Vindictus gritted his teeth on the rag and suppressed the urge to lash out when the magic was used on him. Icicle stitched his neck quickly, placing a dressing over it.She sighed, he'd live, even though he still had countless other injuries. She immediately set to work on the rest of the wounds, following the same pattern: Pack, sterelize, stitch, dressing. She had 3 needles going at all times. He frowned. She wasn't using her magic on him directly, why not? He kept his suspicions quiet, though. He'd seen several birds eyeing him earlier. She finally reached a wound on his side, its was a good few inches wide. She sighed, mumbling to herself, 
"I can't stitch this.. but if I leave it open.." Her horn glowed an ice blue and a small cloud appeared above them, it slowly kicked out some snow, which Icy directed onto the wound. 
A cold pain shot through Vindictus's side as the snow slowly began to mould into his side, creating a patch over the entire wound. 
"Argh!" He almost jumped away but stopped himself, gritting his teeth so hard he was almost sure he'd push his teeth into the gums. The snowy patch faded to reveal a fully healed wound, it was devoid of fur, but the flesh was intact, all that was left was a thick scar down the middle. Vindictus nodded towards a stallion who was looking over the battlefield with horror on his face. 
"A farmer," he said. 
"Don't worry, once I'm done with you, I'll save who I can." 
He shook his head. "He'd never killed anypony in his life. Was terrified when he was called to war, and still is. He'll never be able to go back to his old life." He looked over to another stallion. "He was a librarian at Canterlot Castle. He'd never killed anything, not even the spiders he found while cleaning out the shelves. He'd read about war but never thought it would be quite as brutal." 
"War is a horrible thing for a pony to go through. And most of the ponies left here won't be nearly as lucky as you. Most of them I'll have to leave to die, or kill them myself to put them out of misery." 
"Lucky. I don't believe in luck." 
"Well then, you better start." She tied a green tag to his hoof before moving onto the next stallion, placing a red tag on the already dead pony. She continued like this, placing red on those already passed, yellow on those who she was unable to save, and green on those she had saved. He looked at the green tag before taking it off and throwing it on the ground. He spread his wings which, amazingly, were unharmed. He then took flight, flying through the red sky as the sun rose. 
The war was over.
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER 7 
RELUCTANT BROTHER





Vindictus flew faster than he ever had before, going until his wings burned and feltas if they were going to fall off. Only then did he descend to the ground and continue on hoof. He was a long way from the Crystal Empire yet and he knew it would be a long time before he got there but he didn't care. He'd heard too many rumors that Cadence was alive and imprisoned by King Sombra, the very unicorn Vindictus had wanted to fight all those years ago. With the Great War over, everyone seemed to be taking a break from battle and polishing up the peace treaty in Canterlot, the capital of Equestria. Vindictus had eft immediately after the battle, however, not even saying goodbye to the mare who's practically save his life. He still didn't know why he had been in his dream; she wouldn't have been alive then, he#d just been a few hundred years old, if that. Maybe the mare just looked like his dream, but the resemblance was very close. 
After 2 weeks of flying and galloping, only sleeping twice, the alicorn finally saw the walls of the Crystal Empire in the distance. But... they were different. Darker. Black. Vindictus doubled his efforts and soon arrived at the base of the wall. At the top, with shadows leaking from him, was an armored unicorn stallion, his horn curved and the tip glowing red. His eyes were green and he had a malicious grin on his face. Suspended in a red magic aura, and looking weak and beaten, was Princess Cadence. 
“CADENCE!” Vindictus shouted and instantly shot upwards, intending to grab her from the aura. The unicorn anticipated this, however, and created a black, transparent shield around the two of them. He laughed as Vindictus threw himself at the barrier time and time again, trying to break through and get to the pink alicorn who was his only friend. King Sombra was enjoyiing the show of a pony causing himself pain for no reason whatsoever. 
Vindictus stopped briefly, panting from exertion, then went at it again. His shoulder was bruised badly but he didn't care. He'd left Cadence making him think he hated her and he was determined to prove her wrong. He threw his whole body at the barrier before finally stopping and glaring at Sombra, who grinnedback. He then roared and flew straight at the unicorn, who was suddenly surprised. 
Vindictus burst through the barrier, which was weaker here, and smashed into the stallion, slamming him into the black crystal wall. Cadence fell to the floor, limp. The black alicorn swung a punch and his hoof smashed into Sombra's jaw, how grunted, then threw the alicorn off with magic. He then charged his horn before firing at Vindictus, hwo was throawn back and fell off the side of the wall. He barely knew what hit him before hitting the ground below, his left wing snappping from under him. He cried out and took his weight off the wing, only to have Sombra slam him back down with another burst of magic. The unicorn then disolved into black smok, flew down to Vindictus and reformed into a pony. He put a hoof on the alicorn's chest and forced him down. 
“Give up,” He said. “You've lost.” 
“No!” Vindictus swung a hoof up again and it caught Sombra in the jaw, forcing him back and giving Vindictus a chance to stand. He drew his weapon and stood ready, the axe blade resting against the ground as the scythe curved in the air. Sombra sniffed, then used his magic to conjure a red sword from the air. He held it with his magic and charged. The alicorn charged as well, his jaw clenched and his lips peeled back to reveal his teeth, which were not sharp from his carnivorous diet. The blades met and they both glared at each other before pulling away and started a fast paced battle with sparks flying from the blades as they clashed and rung out through the cold air. Sombra got several shallow cuts, but that was because of the armor. Vindictus, who was wearing no armour, had a deep gahh on the side of his chest, one across his back and ne down the center of his forehead. His wing was still broken and his right forehoof almost useless due to him attacking the abrrier earlier. He was at a severe disadvantage but didn't care. His friend was in danger and he was going to do everything he could to get her safe again. 
Sombra swung and Vindictus ducked, swinging his own weapon and nicking the unicorn's armour, which was then met by a deep cut across the back of his neck. The alicorn warrior grunted nad stood straight again, jumping forward and swinging for the neck but Osmbra stepped back and opened another cut on Vindictus' left foreleeg before headbuting him and stunning the alicorn for a moment. He used this opportunity to jump forward and put the sword half deep into Vindictus' shoulder. He cried out in pain and dropped his weapon, falling to the ground as blood poured form his open wounds. He looked up at Sombra, who was standing over him with the sword raised, breathing heavily. The blade came whistling down and the alicorn closed his eyes and whispered a quiet prayer to Judgement. He suddenly felt a tight squeezing sensation and his eyes flew open. The last thing he saw was the sword blade, and Cadence behind Sombra, her horn glowing and looking at Vindictus with an apologetic expression. Then everything went dark. 

He woke up thrashing, knocking several ponies unconscious and causing himself great pain. He fell back and roared I pain as he rushed his wing. He finally took the time to look around. The room he was in was white and small, with one window in the far wall and a door in the other wall. He wa sin a soft bed which was nothing more than a metal fram and a matress with some pillows and the top part at an angle. Vindictus thought for a moment, then realized he was in a hospital room. He looked around and only now noticed a mare in the room. 
“Welcome back to Equestria, Sunshine,” The mare said. The voice was cold and she spat sarcastically on the word 'sunshine'. 
“Wh... where am I?” Vindictus asked suspiciously. 
“Emergency hospital rank 1, medical room alpha, bed 7.” 
“And who are-” He looked at her cutie mark. “Icicle Wishes?” He knew it was her but she was different. Her coat was paler and her eyes were green instead of red. 
“Uh-huh,” she replied, a tad distant and mixing a potion on the table. 
“How did I get here?” 
“You got hit while in battle,” She replied. “You've got cuts everywhere and don't even get me started on what you're broken.” 
He looked around groggily, then remembered. 
“Cadence,” he said. “Where is she?” He winced in pain as he tried to sit up. A hoof forcefully pushed him back down. 
“She's alright,” Icy said, her voice softening slightly. “My only concern right now is you,” 
He grunted as his weight was put on his broken wing. “What do you mean?” 
“A lady does not let a valuable stallion like yourself die. Especially not this one.” She hoofed him a thick white potion. “Drink this.” 
“Why should I?” Vinny asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. He didn't trust the potion. 
“It's a special concoction I've perfected over the years,” She replied. “Take your wing for example. It's broken in 3 places. The potion reduces 6 months of healing to 6 hours.” 
He looked at the potion, then hesitantly drank it. Wishy put a hoof on his shoulder and pushed him into an upright position. 
“Hold still, hun,” She said before she began wrapping bandages around the areas where his bones were broken. Her touch was softer than usual. 
“Who are you?” he asked, looking at her. Her green eyes stared at him as she smiled. 
“I'm Icicle Wishes. I swear we've discussed this, silly!” 
“Icicle Wishes would make me hurt more before healing me,” Vinny replied. “And she would have force-fed me that potion.” 
“You clearly have the wrong idea of my other half,” She gazed across him, her eyes darting back and forth. “Mmhmm, I think you'll do.” 
“What other half?” 
“I'm Wishy, the not-so-nice counterpart to Icy, who you've already met. Though I don't understand her reservations about you, I find you to be a rather fine stallion.” 
He just looked at her suspiciously. 
She sighed. “How do I explain this...?” She quickly flashed, turning into Icy, then melted back to Wishy. 
“Then what do I do now?” Vindictus asked. 
“You stay right here, where nopony else can get to you.” 
“And if I want to leave?” 
“I'll catch you and tie you to the bed. You're not allowed to leave this room without my say.” 
“And when I kill you?” 
“You can try, hun.” Wishy grinned. 
His eyes narrowed. “What do you want with me?” 
“For you to get better.” 
“Time will do that. I don't need you watching me like a hawk.” 
“An unfortunate side effect of being my patient. I watch all of them like a hawk.” 
“Then why not get another doctor?” 
“Because I'm the only medic you'll let in the same room as you. I've grown rather attached to my exclusive patient.” 
“What do you mean?” 
“Seriously? Surely you've been through this before, Vindictus?” 
“Been through what?” 
Wishy's mouth hung open, her eyes wide in shock. “I surely can't be the first mare to have flirted with you, Vindictus.” 
“What with me?” 
She simply stood staring. “Flirt. F-L-I-R-T.” 
“I... haven't heard that word before...” 
“How have you never heard of flirting, Vindictus? It's a basic form of communication between a mare and a stallion.” 
“If it was that common, I'd have heard of it by now.” 
“You've never been interested in a mare before? Which in itself leads to flirting?” 
“Interested in a mare? Why would I be?” 
“My dear, were you raised in a cave? With no idea of love or affection?” 
“I know what they are,” he replied. “I just haven't seen any point in them.” 
“To make you happy? To give you purpose? Need I go on?” 
“I was happy enough fighting,” He said. “And my purpose is to kill. Why would I need love?” 
“I think this is something I need to show you,” Wishy said. “So, the question is, how much do you trust me?” 
“Not a lot,” He replied. 
“Good enough. Drink this,” She hoofed him a red potion which was giving off a slight mist. 
He looked at it suspiciously. “What is it?” 
“Drink it and you'll find out. I can't explain this to you, Vindictus, it's something you have to experience for yourself.” 
He looked at it, then back to Wishy. He then hesitantly lifted it to his lips and drank it. As soon as he swallowed, he started to feel light headed and drowsy. “Wh... wha...?” 
Wishy took Vinny's head in her hooves and looked him straight in the eye. He tried to shake back to reality but he found Wishy getting more and more attractive. 
“Wh... what did you do?” he mumbled. 
“Showing you love, Vindictus,” She let him go and walked over to her desk, picking up another potion. Vindictus shook his head and blinked. Wishy's flank suddenly seemed to attract his eyes very well. 
“Feeling the effects yet?” Her green eyes were surveying him carefully. 
“Wha...” he looked into her eyes. They were so green and beautiful. 
“Yeah, I think you get the point. Would you like the antidote or are you going to explore this idea a little further?” 
“You're so beautiful...” he mumbled. She stopped halfway to the desk. Nopony had ever said that to her before and it completely knocked her off guard. She turned back into Icy. Vinny stood and walked over to her. “You're eyes sparkle more beautifully than fine cut rubies,” 
Icy was clearly confused. “You said what, now?” She saw the empty bottle on the bed. “Oh, Celestia... WISHY!” 
He gently turned her head with his hoof. “Don't worry, I'm here now...” he said with a softness that did not suit him one bit. Icy pulled away and turned into Wishy again. 
“Vindictus, this isn't real for you, it's just a potion.” 
“I thought so, too,” he replied. “Then I saw the most beautiful mare I'd ever seen.” he stepped towards her again, his eyes glazed over. Wishy looked at Vinny. She knew this wasn't real but the potion had affected him more than she thought. 
“Vindictus, I need you to drink that,” she pointed to a potion on the table. 
“Why would I want that? All I need is you...” He leaned in. 
“Because I asked you to,” She pulled away again. 
He stepped towards her again. “All I want is you...” He said. 
“That's enough, Vindictus. You're scaring her.” Celestia was standing in the doorway. Vinny turned to her. 
“I would never scare such a delicate-” he stopped, blinking a few times. His eyes cleared and he winced as the pain from his wounds returned. “Wha...” 
“There we go,” The princess said. “Welcome back to your own mind.” She frowned at him. “Trying to kiss your sister is highly inappropriate.” 
He shook his head, trying to clear it. “Of course it is, but what has that got to do with-” He stopped. “Wait, what?” 
Icy was standing with her mouth open. “He's my WHAT!?” 
Celestia simply smiled and chuckled. “My sister and I ave had our suspicions for a while, we had comparative blood samples done and, well... Icicle and Vindictus, you are siblings.” 
“No I don't think so,” Vindictus said. “I don't have any family.” 
“Yes, you do. You've just never met them but before you stands your little sister.” 
He shook his head. “No, you're wrong. If I had family, I would have met them them by now. The only person I considered as family was torn limb from limb before my eyes!” 
“You've said it yourself, Vindictus, you spend most of your life in battle. I spend all my time in hospital. You'd never know if you had family.” 
“I do know,” He protested. “We don't even look alike! I don't have any parents anyway!” 
“There's no use in fighting,” Celestia said. “Whether or not you accept this, you're related.” 
“You wouldn't know.” 
Celestia pulled a scroll from hoer pack and placed it on the table. “Read for yourself.” 
“No,” he grabbed the scroll. “I don't care what you or this says, I have NO family!” 
“Then leave, now,” Icy said. “You don't have to accept me as your sister although it's clear that I am. If you refuse to accept what is, then just go.” 
“Fine,” he began limping towards the door. Icy stood firm, her eyes blazing with anger. 
“Fine. I don't need another brother, anyway.” 
He walked down the hall for a while before sighing and leaning against the wall. He looked at the scroll in his hoof. "I don't need family," He muttered. "I'd end up dying on them," He opened the scroll and read it nonetheless. The scroll was fairly empty, is simply contained a diagram of two DNA profiles, showing them to be sibling matches. The names by the samples were clear: Vindictus Vulnere and Icicle Wishes. He closed his eyes and sighed before scrunching the piece of parchment up into a ball. He threw it over his shoulder before continuing to limp down the corridor, trying to force the thought from his head. 
Icy sat at her desk. She couldn't believe what Celestia had said, not 10 minutes before she'd been flirting with this stallion, a stallion who turned out to be her brother. Shame washed over her. As he walked further away from the castle, Vindictus began to think. If Icicle really was his sister, then that must mean that his parents were still alive... He stopped and turned to look at the castle. He was mentally fighting as to whether or not to ask about it but decided not to. He continued walking away from it, his mind still troubled. Icy stood up and sighed, walking to her other patients. There was no point thinking on this, her brother didn't want anything to do with her.
> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 8





Vindictus flew down and sighed. Back in Manehatten, where the Great War had ended so long ago. It seemed like just weeks since the battle had ended when it had, in fact, been over 5 years. In that time, he’d seen many battles, countless horrors and had killed more ponies, griffons and other creatures than he could count. But he seemed to always return to Manehatten and when he did, he always noticed one pony. It was a mare, a unicorn. She was tall and very pretty. She looked at least 20 years old and seemed to always be at the entrance to Manehatten. Whenever Vindictus saw her, however, she turned and ran. He knew he wasn’t the most good looking stallion in Equestria, but he’d never had a mare run from him before. He guessed it was just nervousness of seeing a killer, he’d be scared as well. But he’d been to Manehatten more times that he could count, now, and every time he arrived, the same mare was always standing there, always running when he got within seeing distance. 
This time, he decided to see who she was. He’d seen her every time since he’d begun going to Manehatten, which  had been after the lies Princess Celestia had told him about his parents and Icicle Wishes. He’d tried to forget about that day but it kept coming back to him. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense; Uguns hadn’t been his blood father, only an foster parent. What if Vindictus’ parents were still out there somewhere? If they were, why had they abandoned him? Left him to die in the cold wasteland? If his parents were still out there, then maybe Icicle Wishes was his sister. Did he have other siblings? A brother, maybe? Would he meet them again?
The questions went through his head unanswered as he drew closer to Manehatten. It was giving him a small headache so he pushed the aside and shook his head clear. He looked up and saw her, standing on the road in between the last buildings on the edge of Manehatten. He stopped, squinting. She looked the same as ever but for one expception. She looked nervous and was scuffing the ground with her hoof. He ran a hoof through his mane and contnued walking, getting ready to chase her. She didn’t run this time, though. She just stayed standing there, not moving. Vindictus walked up to her and stopped, looking down at her. She was a couple of heads shorter than himself and looked so small and delicate as he looked down on her. She looked back up and gulped, breathing quickly.
“H... h... hi...” She managed to say the word, stammering it out as she breathed faster.
“Who are you?” He asked, his voice sounding aggressve although he didn’t mean for it to.
“I-I’m sorry, sir, please forgive me!” She squeaked. “I-I-I just saw you and...” She trailed off into a mumble.
“What was that?”
“I just wanted to...” She trailed off again, looking down at the ground.
“I can’t hear you, what are you saying?”
The mare looked up at him with big, teary eyes. “I... I’m sorry,” She then turned and ran again, into the city. Vindictus paused for a moment before sighing and running after her. He quickly caught up and jumped in front of her, causing her to crash into him and almost fall over. He put a hoof around her to keep her steady.
“Who are you?” He asked. The mare had a white coat and a bright green mane which had a few yellow streaks in it. Her eyes were bright green and still slightly teary. Vin looked down at her and felt... something. She was beautiful and the way she looked at him... he closed his eyes and shook his head. He’d felt this feeling before but that had been forced... did this mean that it was a natural feeling, as well? 
“I... I’m... Minty Lemon,”
“Why have you been watching me?” He changed his tone to be less threatening, hoping to put the mare more at ease.
“I... I...” He looked around for a moment before throwing herself at Vinny, sobbing into his chest. He suddenly froze, not knowing what to do. He looked around but the streets were empty, leaving him to care for a sobbing mare... and he had no idea what to do. He thought for a momet before hesitantly putting a hoof around her. As he held her, Minty’s sobbing subsided and she looked up at him, sniffing. 
“Are you alright?” He asked, again getting that feeling.
“Y... yes...” She shivered. “It’s cold.”
“Is it?” He looked around and sighed. 
“Do you need a place to stay tonight?” She asked suddenly. VIndictus looked at her, surprised. 
“I... wasn’t planing on staying for long...”
“You can stay with me. I’ve got enough room for two, please?” She spoke quickly and sounded really nervous, her breathing quickening again. “I-if you don’t want to, that’s fine... I’m sorry...” She turned to walk away, her head low and a couple of tears falling from her face. Vindictus thought fast; he had an idea of what was happening and he felt... different. As if something had changed in his mind, as if it had opened up. He looked at Minty and saw something other than another sack of meat waiting for death. He saw somepony important. Maybe not to anyone else, but to him.
“Wait!” He walked after her and she stopped to turn, a smile growing on her face. He caught up to her and took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll stay with you,”
She practically squealed as she jumped up and wrapper her front hooves around his neck, forcing him to bend down. He let her hug him, not wanting to upset her now. A few moments later, she let go, grinning widley. 
“Come on, it’s this way!” She grabbed his hoof and ran down the street. Vindictus followed, wondering what 
he’d gotten hismelf into.

Minty’s house was an apartment on the top floor of a regular brick building. It was small, with only one bedroom, a couch and a bookcase as well as a few miscellanious objects. Minty turned when he entered and sighed.
“I’m sorry, I know I said I had enough room for both of us but...” She sat down on the couch and groaned. “I’m an idiot, a stupid failure...”
Vindictus looked down at her and walked forward, the floorboards creaking under his weight. He barely knew this mare yet he felt pained to see her sad.
“You’re not stupid,” He said. “You’re clever.”
“Yeah, right. I can barely talk to a stallion...” 
“You’re talking to me,” he said.
“I was crying into your coat not ten minutes ago,” 
“And why was that?”
Minty blushed slightly. “I... I was nervous...”
“Nervous about what?”
“Ab... about you...” She turned redder. “Uh... would you like something to drink? I have some clear spring water here, let me ge tit for you,” She stood and hurried into the kitchen. “Take a seat,” She called through. Vin shrugged and sat down, looking around. The room was nicely decorated. The colors were bright and there were pictures of Minty as a filly with her parents. There were several ornaments and flower vases around and the room had a smell of mint about it. 
Minty came through a few moments later, levitating 2 glasses of water. At the sight of the magical aura, Vin’s hoof went to the knife at his side. The mare gasped and stepped back, eyes wide with fear. He looked at her, then the glasses before sighing and relaxing slightly. She walked forward and put his glass on the coffee table in front of him.
“Are you alright?” She asked, sounding slightly scared. He nodded.
“Yes, sorry... I don’t like magic that much...” 
“Really?” She giggled. “But you’re an alicorn, you supposed to be the best at magic!”
“I know... but I’m not,” He took his glass in his hoof and took a sip. It had a hint of lemon in it; just enough to make it taste delicious.
“What happened?” She asked. “You sound different from the other soldiers...”
“It’s... a long story,” He replied with a sigh.
“I’ve got all night, I don’t have work in the morning,” She replied, moving slightly closer to him. “And you look like you’ve got a few stories to tell,”
He looked down at her, again feeling that... thing. He sighed and put the water down. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything,” She replied quietly, moving closer. He rubbed the back of his head and nodded.
“The first thing I remember is making my home. It was north, past the Barrier. I had to carve out the inside of a spire made from ice, but I didn’t get to stay in my home because just a few days later...”

By the time he finished his life story, Minty Lemon was wide eyed and right beside him, almost touching. 
“... and that’s when I met you. I wanted to know why you’ve been waiting for me every time,” He finished and looked down at her. “Why have you been waiting?”
Minty blushed suddenly. “I-I-I... I wanted to meet you...”
“What? Why?”
“Well... everyone I’d asked said that you were a terrible person, a killer. But a nurse at Canterlot Hospital said that 5 years ago, you’d been put into the hospital with several major injuries, almost fatal. They said it was because you were trying to save somepony,” she looked up at him. “Is it true?”
“I...” He thought for a moment. “My friend, Cadence. She was being held captive by a pony named Sombra. I tried to save her, to try and earn her forgiveness but...” He stopped.
“You couldn’t do it,” Minty finished. He nodded. 
“If it wasn’t for Cadence, I’d be dead. She teleported me out of there. She... she’s probably dead now,” He felt his eyes getting wet and raised a hoof, wiping away a tear. 
“I’m sorry...” Minty raised a hoof to his face. “Maybe there’s a chance she’s still alive,”
“Maybe,” He winced a little from her touch but didn’t do anyting else. After a few moments, he turned his head to look down at her. She was looking back up at him with those green eyes, those pretty green eyes. They looked at each other for a moment before she rested her head on his shoulder and sighed. He hesitantly put a hoof around her. The feeling was constant now... that feeling of completion, of fullness. He felt great, better than ever before. And he somehow knew it was because of Minty Lemon. He didn’t want to leave her for fear of losing this feeling, this happiness. Minty mumbled something.
“Sorry?” Vindictus looked back down at her.
“I love you,” She whispered. 
“I...” He stopped. Is this what Cadence and Icicle Wishes had tried to explain to him? They’d claimed that love can’t be explained with words. He couldn’t find anything to properly describe what he was feeling right now. “I love you, too,” He replied quietly. He felt something going on with his face, felt it stretching. He got slightly worried but stopped when he saw that Minty was smiling. He realized that he was smiling, too. For the first time he was smiling. They looked at each other for a moment before Minty leaned up and kissed Vindictus. He kissed her back, feeling a lot better than before as he wrapped his hooves around her. In the back of his mind, he knew that Cadence would be proud.